31 Facts of December
by Sick Twisted Mind
Summary: For each day of December (starting late), the Guardians will learn something new about the youngest member of their group. No matter what it may be, Toothina, North, Sandy and Bunnymund will discover all there is to know about Jack Frost and his past life. *One-shots *implied Bunny/Jack in some chapters, not a major thing though *Ratings for each will change
1. Introduction

**I know I'm starting a week late, but I'll catch up!**

**I know I posted the first chapter already, but I was too tired to write this little intro last night. So a couple of things real quick...**

**1.) Jack is said to be 17-18 in the movie, in these, he'll be a bit younger, around 14-16, just because he's so cute.**

**2.) Most of these I will have made up, some will come from what is said/implied in the movie.**

**3.) This will NOT be a Bunny/Jack story, but a few chapters will have that pairing. I know a lot of people don't ship them (I can't explain why I do...), so for every chapter that is Bunnymund/Jack related, those will be the days I post TWO CHAPTERS A DAY, so that everyone can still have something to read each day.**

**4.) The rating for each story will be listed at the top, along with the title, main characters in the chapter, genre and summary.**

**5.) Of course authors love favorites and alerts, but we also enjoy criticism! I'd really like to improve my writing and get back into my habit of writing so often! So please, so where I need improvement, where I'm lacking, what I need to re-do. (Compliments are nice too though :) )**

**6.) The chapters will not have anything to do with one another, think of each one as a separate story. Some chapters may reflect back on a previous fact or fore-shadow an upcoming one.**

**7.) I only have so many ideas for this, so if you have something to suggest writing about, leave it in a review!**

**Thanks so much for clicking on this, so let's proceed to the actual stories!**


	2. Troublemaker

**Title: **Troublemaker

**Rating:** K

**Characters (besides Jack):** Bunnymund and a bit of North

**Genre: **Angst/Hurt

**Summary: **Trouble, destruction, messes. Surely this can't be all Jack knows how to do?

* * *

Elf bowling.

Breaking into North's shop.

The blizzard of 1868.

Snow storm.

And more snow storms.

And more.

Power outages.

Frostbitten people.

Slippery ice.

Bruised tailbones from previously mentioned ice.

Does the kid know _anything_ but trouble?

No. He doesn't.

* * *

One late November evening, after a desperately lonely-induced game of hide-'n-seek with some of the brighter elves, Bunny and Jack are glaring one another down amidst shambles of broken robots and wooden planes with bent wings, snarling out an argument with name-calling and painful comments.

"How do ya not see a stack of these things that rise to tha ceilin'? Look around, this must be over 300 toys Jack! Ya coulda been helpin' make some more of these cruddy things," the pooka picks up a blue mechanical person with an arm missing and a dented backside, "but instead, ya' destroy 'em!"

"I hadn't meant to! I looked behind me for a split second, and then they all just appeared!" Jack snarls back, gesturing to the toys around them. He stands on his tiptoes to look the rabbit in the eyes. "What do you even care, fluffball? It's not like these are your eggs or anything!"

"I care because ya destroyed them! Ya recklessness ruined what North's workers created!" Bunnymund draws himself up to full height, shoulders straight and back stiff to show the winter spirit who's more threatening. "And North would never yell at ya, somebody's gotta tell ya when ya mess up, someone's gotta put ya in line!"

"I said I was sorry! One moment the air was clear and the next, they were there! It wasn't my fault!" Jack bites back, his face flushed with just enough anger to give it a smidge of color.

"_Ya flew into the toys_! Of cou'se it's ya fault! Sarry isn't about ta make this all betta! How can one boy be so destructive?" Bunny shouts and the crowd of yetis - barely understanding, yet eagerly watching - flinches for Jack, who stands tall through the insult.

"That's all I know!" Jack hollers. The comment surprises everyone, the yetis, the few elves that are sharp enough to keep up with the conversation, Bunnymund, even the winter spirit himself. "You wanna complain about 300 hundred toys in the place filled with a million to replace them? How about 300 _years_! 300 years of having no one around!" Jack takes a step closer to the rabbit, jabbing his finger into the furry chest with frustration. "No one was ever there to teach me what I'm suppose to do! How to be good! You think I wanted to be on the naughty list? You think I want to be written off as the worst kid in the world?" His emphasized words do their job to stick out of the angry sentences and Bunny does his best not to let his anger blur into sadness and guilt, but the wounded blue eyes are quickly breaking his strict demeanor. "I have spent centuries with no one to guide me, nobody to show me how to use what I have to benefit people. I had to teach myself what I could do, what I should use my snow and ice for and when no one can see you, no one can hear you, reach out to you, it's hard to control something you don't understand! All I could ever teach myself was how to create dangerous weather and how whatever I did, I would always hurt someone! I don't know _how_ to do good things!"

With white hair half covering his eyes, the eyes filled with such pain and anguish, Jack exhales deeply and bites his lower lip to keep it from quivering. He has said too much; he revealed too much vulnerability. He looks away from the tallest guardian and forces his way through the yetis (not that much force is needed, even the gibberish speaking creatures understand to not get in his way) and past North, who had come out once the noise of work and and yeti yells had been replaced with a crash and Australian accented shouts.

Jack races off through one of the halls and moments later, the group sees him zoom past the windows of the work room, head turned the opposite way as to never accidentally meet their gazes.

Bunny tries to keep his straight and intimidating posture, but it falters as his ears sink back and he slumps his shoulders while North shoos the yetis back to work to replace the toys the winter spirit crashed into.

"Bunny?" The Russian's voice goes in one floppy ear and out the other as the pooka thinks about what Jack had said.

300 years to learn everything on a subject. That you didn't know existed. With no teacher. Yikes. The kid had had no role model, no adult figure to say what was wrong and what was right. It was a clueless kid teaching himself how to be clueless.

The giant rabbit winces in realization: every time Jack had acted out to them, maybe to ask for their help, they only reinforced the idea that he would always be bad.

Bunnymund looked up at North. "When Frostbite gets back, we're going to have to talk with him."

North smiled and agreed. "We have good talk wiz zee good boy!" He clapped Bunny on the shoulder, "Jack will see zat everyone make mistake! Jack will see that he is good child, even better guardian."

* * *

He was not destructive because he was a bad kid.

He did not leave messes because he was bored.

He created trouble because that's the only thing he knew.

* * *

**RotG fact: The concept of _The Guardians of Childhood _(the book series the movie is based off of) was developed when author William Joyce's daughter asked him if the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause knew one another.**


	3. Distasteful Vocabulary

**Title: **Distasteful Vocabulary

**Rating:** T (for language)

**Characters (besides Jack):** All the guardians, but mainly Sandy

**Genre: **Angst maybe? Hurt?

**Summary:** What is it that Sandy sees when Jack scowls? What is it that bothering him so?

**Followers (as of this chapter): **38

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **28

* * *

It was always a subtle thing really. Just a small crinkle of his white nose, lips twitching gently into a scowl that was barely there. Small things, things the others wouldn't notice, but the golden man saw it.

It was a rare thing too. Not that any of the other three saw it necessary to express themselves like that, but they all had slip ups.

Like Tooth, with watery eyes and mouth agape at what her precious teeth collectors squeaked to her. Pitch had kept them locked in cages in an icy, black room. Many of the little fairies were not able to work their night shifts for weeks because their delicate wings were no longer strong enough to keep them afloat very long. Some had caught colds and the adorable sneezes and sniffled chirps made them too woozy to fly at all.

Tooth whimpered for her workers and carried each and every one of the ill to little beds her soft hands had created for them. She pleaded with the other four to help her help them. And without hesitation, they all agreed. Jack, Sandy and Tooth would stay behind every day for more than 20 full days and nights, guiding the little fairies on short trips, always there to reach out and catch any that fell behind, while North, Bunny and Baby Tooth collected the bloody teeth around the world every night.

Of course, MiM couldn't stop the moon from claiming night time on some part of the Earth at every moment, so the six worked constantly to keep up with children sleeping somewhere in the world, with Sandy working twice as hard to keep up with presenting safety and laughter in sleeping children.

After Tooth finally saw her fairies fit to continue their occupation, they all took a more-than-needed break, but five tired cranky people (and animals) were not on the look out to keep their mouths in check.

"That bastard!" Tooth had finally broke down completely with her lack of sanity-keeping sleep and sobbed about what Pitch had done. Sandy, the master of sleep, awake as ever, turned to the fairy in shock at her choice of words. '_It must be her tiredness_,' Sandy decided and took pity on her, unlike the others.

Bunnymund rolled his eyes, much too tired to understand, let alone care, what Tooth was aching on about.

North just sighed, all energy drained from his large body so that a comforting pat on the back for the half-hummingbird was impossible.

Sandy was about to drift over the little room to where Tooth was shaking with her head in her arms, but picked up just the slightest movement in the young one beside him. Sandy turned around to see Jack's narrowed, tired eyes glaring at Tooth with a frown creeping onto the boy's face. The guardian of dreams shook himself out of his surprise of the angry expression and tried to get Jack's attention to inquire why he was more bothered than Bunny and North, but the young one's eyes drifted closed and his head fell forward against the lean chest, frown still evident on his face.

Sandy gazed momentarily at the boy's sleeping form, then turned around to his other friends to see that they had all nodded off as well, with Norths giant form slack against half of the couch while Bunnymund had curled up tightly beside him and Tooth had cried herself into a deep sleep, tears leaving no trace behind.

The Sandman shrugged the matter off; Jack was simply sleep-deprived and his emotions reflected it. He floated around the room and picked up the blankets hanging off the back of couches or the ones that were planning to be used as warm gifts for the poorer children of the world and placed one over each of his co-workers, making sure Jack's was only covering his legs, so the icy guardian could kick it off easily in his sleep should he feel too hot. Sandy went out to give the children their wonderful dreams to keep the boogeyman at bay, making sure to spread some sand over Toothina so her she could catch up on her sleep and return to her normal, strong self and a little on Jack so the young one would snap out of his moodiness as soon possible.

* * *

Several months later, with sleeping patterns in check thank you very much, the Guardians were all underground in the busy Warren, Easter just a day away. North had claimed that it was very important that Easter was as magnificent and spectacular as ever so they could regain the believers they had lost last year.

Bunnymund took this as North saying Easter was just as important as - if not more than - Christmas.

While the two argued with raised voices, Tooth, Jack and Sandy went to work, sprucing up the eggs and throwing ideas out of where to hide them.

Tooth was fluttering around, taking small pride in her 'sneaky' methods of switching the candies with sugar-free chocolate (when her supposed slyness was just the others being too busy to stop her).

Sandy blew a little dream sand onto each clumsy egg; the consumer of them would dream of Easter and of Bunnymund, blossoming belief in their unconscious little minds, while Jack made sure that the faithless children would get the colorful presents they needed to find.

The night before, Jack had flown around the cities with the least number of lights on the globe, attempting to find out the identities of unbelieving children so that he could use his ice work to inscript their names onto the eggs placed in their town. He took care in using his ability to bring a light blue, slightly chilled, title to each and was in the process of creating the second D in 'Maddy' when he heard an Australian voice call out in frustration.

"Aww, shit!"

Jack whipped his head up in anger to see the pooka lifting a large paw off the grassy ground, revealing a crushed egg beneath it.

Sandy didn't bother looking at what silenced the argument between Bunnymund and North, but instead focused on Jack's expression. Wide, almost wounded, eyes narrowed and a grimace marked his soft face.

Sandy stared in recognition, trying to place where he had seen the look on Jack before. The expression quickly faded off the boy's face, and he went back to working on finishing the D and Y, yet noticed Sandy looking at him as if Jack was a puzzle. He adverted his eyes from the man of sand and continued finishing the name, too embarrassed to look back up.

Sandy snapped his fingers in realization. That was the same expression Jack had given Tooth all those nights ago! What was it the fairy had done that was similar to Bunnymund's actions? Tooth cried, Bunnymund didn't. Bunnymund destroyed something, Tooth didn't. Tooth had insulted Pitch, but Jack shouldn't be upset over that. She called him a bastard, an uncommon thing for the fairy, but that was true when it came to describing Pitch. Bunnymund hadn't insulted anyone, just slipping out an improper word like Tooth had...

Sandy snapped again and his face lit up. Both had done an uncommon thing! But they all did uncommon things every now and again. Tooth had instructed North to leave floss instead of a quarter for a boy whose tooth beneath his pillow had a cavity back when the large guardian was a helper for her, but Jack had chuckled at that. North had let his reindeer in the workshop once when the temperature dropped too low, but Jack had enjoyed that as well.

What made saying bastard and shit so significant to Jack?

Sandy's conclusion left him too shocked to snap his fingers for a third time. Swearing? Did Jack truly hate curse words so much he would glare at his fellow guardians for uttering them under sleep-deprivation and stress?

From what the dreamer could tell, swearing was a big things among teenagers nowadays. Every other word between the few young people Sandy watched sneak out of their homes at night was a crude word, usually for no reason. Even the good children, children on the nice list, would be rebellious and giggle out 'hell' or 'ass' when in little groups when no adults were around. Why did Jack hate it so much?

Sandy took a peak around; Tooth had run out of sugarless chocolate and was trying to sneak mini-tubes of toothpaste in; North was now patting Bunny on the shoulders as the pooka held the shattered shell in his paws.

Jack was working on an egg for a unbeliever named Trevor, but if Sandy looked hard enough, he could still see the anger in the eyes of the new guardian.

* * *

"I don't get it," Tooth murmured, floating around Sandy while images of Tooth glaring at Pitch melted into Bunnymund crushing an egg above him.

"Try somethin' else, mate. We ain' gettin' this," huffed the rabbit as the guilt from crushing one of his cherished eggs flooded back.

Sandy sighed silently, waving his hands as a jumble of symbols came about his head, looking something along the lines of '_?^%&#$ _'.

"Question mark, pointy thing, percent si-" Tooth was cut off when Sandy squeezed his eyes shut and waved his hands to quiet her.

Sandy projected the image of a large book above his head and his creation opened up to a blank page and he placed the ridiculous symbols onto the sand paper.

"Sandy!" North boomed. "Are you trying to swear at us?" The Russian pushed back his chair and stood up to see the little man better.

Sandy grinned and nodded. North wasn't correct, but he was on the right track. He conjured up an image of Jack frowning and put an equals sign between the book and child.

"Jack...doesn't like swears?" Tooth said cautiously, not wanting to be cut off again.

Sandy smiled broadly and clapped his hands although no noise came out.

"Frostbite don' like curses. So what?" Bunny challenged.

Sandy shot up more sand from his sleeve which swirled until Toothina's face was hovering above Bunnymund's and two arrows pointed from the book to them.

"We swore?" Tooth gasped, hands over her mouth. How could she! She was to be a protector of innocence and valuable lessons, and she had let a _swear_ escape her! She hung her head in shame.

Sandy nodded and the dictionary and arrows disappeared until it was the faces of the fairy and pooka on one side of the equals sign and a scowling Jack on the other.

"Frostbite's mad at us fer swearin'?" Bunnymund's brows furrowed in confusion.

Sandy nodded once more, his neck was now tired from all the bobbing he had to do to agree.

"It is settled then! No more swearing in front of Jack!" North bellowed, grinning as if he had just solved the entire problem. "We all watch words so we offend Jack no more! Agreed?"

The other three nodded before they heard a desperate yelp and a loud crash. Bunny's ears perked up and he was the first out of the room, hopping down the steps and into a disaster of robots and planes. The other 3 watched from the door as Jack gazed stupidly around from his spot on the ground, looking at the mess, unsure of how it all happened.

"What in the bloody," one would only notice the slight hesitation from the pooka if you truly concentrated, like the three guardians upstairs did, "heck happened here?"

Although they all heard the argument that followed, they all heard how Jack thought of himself and proclaimed himself as the world's worst child, they all watched him fly off somewhere, they were all impressed with Bunny's control of his words - not that he was nice and understanding with Jack, but he kept his speech clean just for the newest addition of their group.

While waiting for Jack to return, the four guardians looked at each other in shame. How little did they truly know about Jack? None of them had bothered to make sure they didn't offend him, knew what was behind his happy exterior or tried to see what Jack really felt.

So when Jack returned hours later, apologizing (but not happy about it) for his mess and outburst, Tooth hugged him with as much strength as she could and North joined in, followed by North and a begrudging Bunnymund.

There was still so much to know about Jack, but they had eternity to know everything about him.

And they each solemnly promised there would be no swears for that eternity.

* * *

**RotG Fact: The movie artists designed North's sleigh to look like a combination of a snowmobile and a F-14 jet fighter.**


	4. Mummy Dearest

**Title: **Mummy Dearest

**Rating: **K

**Characters (besides Jack): **Tooth and Bunnymund

**Genre:** Family

**Summary: **It may have been a slip up, she may have misheard, or Jack may have truly called her that.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **87

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **64

* * *

Roughhousing wasn't that big of a deal with immortals. Scratches and bruises held no damage to them; having unnatural abilities meant unnatural healing time.

But when a 'preparation for future battles' (in Jack's words) quickly became too dangerous (in Tooth's words), the fairy felt the urge to butt in unnecessarily (in Bunnymund's words).

"Come on Tooth! It's just a bit of fun!" The winter spirit grinned and flung up an icy shield to deflect one of Bunnymund's boomerangs and sent it whirling back towards the pooka.

"Bunny! Be careful with him!" Tooth scolded as she flew in between the two guardians while dodging ice and rebounding weapons. "He's just a boy! That almost hit him in the face!"

"He's a gau'dian - eh! - fer a reason Tooth. He knows...'ow to - _dang it_- 'andle 'imself!" The sentence was filled with brief pauses and grunts from the tuck and rolls and the flinging of his wooden instruments.

"Of course I do, that's why I'm kicking your furry little tail rabbit!" Jack grinned wickedly and hopped from one wall to the other, effortlessly avoiding each attempt Bunnymund made to snatch him. The youngest seemed to dance around the empty room of North's, each dodge a graceful leap and each blast of ice was the result of a delicate twirl.

Neither was aiming to hurt the other, Tooth knew that; she could see how Bunny's throws weren't as powerful as they normally should be, she noticed the dramatic downsize in Jack's snow drafts, but nevertheless, Jack was still just a boy who was an expert in fun and jokes and Bunny had so much more experience in the fighting field...

It was the motherly instinct, or the fact Jack would always be one of the children she was sworn to protect, or that she was imagining them becoming rougher after each of their failed attacks, but Tooth was almost pulling her feathers out in worry.

"Jack, Bunny, please stop!"

Jack spun around to face her and opened his mouth to speak.

But Bunnymund was already in mid-throw when Tooth let out her plea.

And the boomerang was already out of his reach when Jack stopped paying attention.

Then the blunt object made contact with the pale head and a gasp of pain escaped white lips.

* * *

In reality, it didn't go that slow. In fact, all Jack did was flinch and throw a scowl over his shoulder to Bunny. But in Toothina's mind, that blow was fatal and she _freaked out_.

"Jack!" Her hysteria rang off the walls and she flew into him, squishing him in her arms and cradling him like an infant. Jack could not escape her death clutch on him and she slowly floated down to the ground, laying him on his back in what was a gentle manner in her mind (but was quite forceful with Jack refusing to cooperate).

"Can you hear me? Can you see anything? What's your name? What's the date? Oh goodness, Jack look at me!" Tooth had panicked herself into hyperventilating and was whimpering out questions at a speed that surpassed the quick fluttering of her wings.

Jack tried to push her away and sit up and Bunnymund tried to calm her worries, but Tooth held one down while ignoring the other. "No! Stay there, don't move, everything will be alright. Just stay calm, it'll be alright Jack, I promise, you'll be just fine..." Tooth whispered reassurances in between gasps of breath, only to be stopped with Jack's next phrase:

"Mom, stop!"

The three froze into a shocked silence. But Tooth proceeded with her worry tantrum.

"Oh MiM! He doesn't know who I am! He's forgotten everything! Bunny, go get North, Jack needs medical attention now!"

"No, Tooth, 'e doesn't."

"_What're you talking about_?! Did you not just hea-?"

"Tooth!"

"Jack?!"

"I'm okay."

"What?"

"I'm okay."

"No you're not! You don't know w-"

"Tooth?"

"It's okay, Jack, I'm right here."

"I'm okay Tooth."

"...But...but you...you called me..."

"I know. It was an accident."

"Oh."

Silence.

"So you're okay?"

"Yes."

"...Alright then." Tooth pushed herself backwards onto the balls of her feet, allowing Jack to sit up without a body hovering above him.

The uninjured guardian kept his head facing the ground, not willing to meet the stares of his companions. He didn't think it was possible for him to blush (he didn't think it was possible for him to have flowing blood in the first place), but Jack wasn't eager for the other two to find out for him.

"Well...this is a bit awkward." Bunny scratched the back of his head and peered at the other two; Jack's pale face flushing a pale violet color and Tooth staring at him in awe.

"Um...yeah. I'm gonna...yeah."

Jack picked himself up, brushed off his pants, collected his staff from behind him and swiftly walked out the door, eyes never leaving the ground.

Bunny and Tooth gazed at one another after the door softly clicked shut. Green and indigo mixed in a confused stare before Tooth broke eye contact and studied the floor, not unlike the winter spirit had just done moments before.

"He called me mom."

"He did."

"Why?"

"He doesn't have a mum. Not in this life or the one before that he can rem'ber."

Tooth bit her lip in sympathy. Jack couldn't remember his past family. Even what his memories told him were only about his happiest days as a human and, from what he had led on, none of those included his family. He was all alone for most of his life. Had he really never been shown a mother's love?

No! He _must've_ been. She showed it on multiple occasions; Tooth wasn't blind to how overly-affectionate she was and her concern for everyone. He called her that for a reason.

It was on accident, but that only happened because of his sub-conscience thoughts. Maybe he wasn't aware of it, maybe he was, but somewhere in his young mind, Tooth a mother-like figure.

He saw her as his mom.

Did he see the others as family? Was North his father? Was Sandy grandpa? Tooth rubbed her temples; that was too much to think about in one day. She decided that Jack saw them as his makeshift family now, simply to ease her thoughts a bit.

Perhaps Tooth was just his favorite family member.

She smiled. Mommy's are always favorites.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Tooth's palace has seven 'grand columns,' one to represent each of the seven continents.**


	5. Hyperthermia

**Title: **Hyperthermia

**Rating:** K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **Bunnymund

**Genre: **Hurt/Comfort/Family

**Summary: **Jack Frost couldn't be hurt by the cold, he would never get hypothermia. But the heat was a different story.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **129

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **95

* * *

"_Hachoo_!"

"What in the hell...oween spirit was that?"

Jack peered at the pooka through his stark white bangs, eyes filled with confusion at the odd remark, but slight relief behind it and something else Bunny couldn't place. The young spirit opened up his mouth to reply, but words had not formed before the twitching of his nose stopped him.

"_Hachoo_!"

"Did ya just...sneeze?"

"I...I don't know. Is that what a sneeze is?" Jack sighed, crinkled his nose and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, ya don' look so hot Frostbite."

"I feel hot," Jack whined and pulled at his baggy sweatshirt. The pooka hopped over and bent down to where Jack was leaning against a bush in the warm Warren. Maybe a little _too _warm for the winter spirit.

Jack had been bored (it was no longer the time for snow and blizzards after all) and North could see the desperate look in the boy's eyes after being pent up in the workshop for almost a month. The yetis were discovering all his tricks, the elves learning to hide from his staff, his games weren't enough and Jack looked insane. North saw the anxious look and noticed the gentle tugs at white hair and pitied the boy. The spirit of wonder called in one of his many favors from Bunnymund and demanded that the rabbit take Jack out with him this Easter.

After making Jack promise to be on his best behavior of course.

Bunny ordered that everything be _his_ way. No flying, no ice, no hiding the eggs beneath any snow he conjured. Jack passingly murmured that the stuffy workshop would have been more fun, but Bunny pretended his super hearing didn't pick that up.

However, now that he saw the effects, maybe it would have been better to leave Jack at North's.

Jack's forehead was glistening with sweat and the face - although deathly pale as usual - had the faintest violet hue to it. Bunnymund looked over the younger who leaning had morphed into slumping against the bush and the amazing ears traced the harsher breathing in Jack's demeanor.

Focusing on the boy's face once more, Bunny noticed the eyes drooping too much for his liking and swatted Jack on the face with his giant paw. Icy eyes widened and peered at his surroundings. Bunny gripped Jack's face between his paws and stared into the pools of blue; Jack's eyes were drifting in and out, not able to concentrate on anything at all.

"Oy mate, ya gettin' sick."

Jack made a noise of...well a noise of something and shut his eyes wearily once more.

"Oh crud," the pooka whispered under his breath. He lifted the boy into his arms and shifted him about; no position felt right. However he heard the soft groan from the body he held and decided to get moving out of his tunnels.

Bunnymund wasn't nearly as fast as he could be on four paws, but when hind legs are your most powerful, he managed to shoot out of his Warren with Jack whimpering in his arms. After puzzling twists and turns and a bit of recklessness (he no longer had to worry about crushing anymore eggs now that they were all out waiting for children to find), Bunny was about to hop up the one that led to just outside North's workshop but hesitated to prepare himself for the cold. The icy winds had froze the tips of his fur last time; he shuddered and was silently grateful he didn't have to worry about Jack being cold.

Bunny gasped and nearly dropped the unconscious child. That was why he felt so weird holding Jack.

_ Jack wasn't cold.  
_

The pooka didn't worry about his well-being any longer and scurried through the last tunnel, popping up out of the snow and racing towards North's place.

He was focusing too much on getting Jack medical attention that he didn't notice the small snowflakes melting as they came into contact with the boy's skin.

Bunny busted through the doors and ignored the yells in yetish and the wobbling elves and took the stairs five at a time to reach North's office.

"No'th! Jack's got a feve'!"

The guardian in charged turned around to see Bunny panting, ears pressed flat against his head and a shaking Jack Frost in his arms.

* * *

They had all acted quick. The yetis filled a metal tub with snow and Bunny all but shoved Jack inside it while North looked around his shop for anything of use. And the elves decorated the tub with Christmas lights. Because it helped somehow in their minds.

"How did zis happen Bunny?" The Russian threw open cupboards and drawers trying to find a something, but came up empty handed.

"I'unno mate. He helped fine with watching the kids, even stayed hidden all of the time with me instead o' showin' off fer new believers, then he started gettin' sluggish, real slow like. I figured he needed a break so I took him back to the Warren and he just sort o' passed out on me." Bunnymund retold the story, pondering each detail, where did he go wrong? Where did he let Jack get sick? "Wha're lookin' fer anyway?"

"Thermometer. I zink Jack has hyperthermia. Bad case too."

"He's the winta' spirit, how's he gonna get hypothermia?!"

"No, hy_per_thermia. Very different. Too much heat."

"It was only 50 degrees!"

"To the spirit of winter, must've felt 300. Jack is too sensitive for the heat. I'm sorry Bunny. It was bad idea to have him go out with you."

"Nah, he enjoyed it mate; some kids even shouted that they saw him. It's just...I didn't know what to do when he woul'n't open his eyes." Bunny stared at the ground and frowned. Jack fell ill on his watch; the kid was unconscious because Bunny couldn't keep an eye on him properly

North placed a hand on Bunny's shoulder. "Jack will be alright. He is guardian; guardians always alright!"

Bunny smiled at his friend and they went back to the room where Jack was currently resting in the lit tub, eyes gently closed, breathing evenly, face as pale as snow itself.

Bunnymund hopped over to the windows and opened them as wide as the hinges allowed, shivering as some of the outside snow and wind forced their way inside, but it didn't matter.

No heat would be getting Jack Frost this time.

* * *

**RotG fact: Sandy is the oldest of all the guardians.**


	6. Scarring

**Title: **Scarring

**Rating:** T (for violence)

**Characters (besides Jack):** North

**Genre: **Hurt

**Summary:** Jack was doing much better after his case of hyperthermia, but North stumbled upon something that may suggest Jack was never okay in the first place.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **162

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **121

* * *

Jack was going better. Much better actually. Bunnymund could feel the ridiculously cold skin on his paws once more and Jack make a sound of comfort when Tooth would drag her fingers through his mess hair. He was slowly coming back to them.

The white-haired spirit had been unconscious for almost a full week, sweating and murmuring in his sleep for the first three days, but after his temperature dropped back to normal, he slept soundly, unaware that one of the guardians was watching him at all times.

They were doing their best to keep him comfortable until he woke up, the yetis filling a total of 17 bathtubs with snow, Sandy giving Jack extra golden sand every few hours and the mini-faeries squeaking about, complimenting the sleeping boy in a language he wouldn't be able to understand even if he were awake.

On the 7th day, Jack was taken out of the tub for good and placed on a couch in a quite room with the windows forced all the way opened (courtesy of Bunnymund). North was keeping an eye on him at this time and after pacing back and forth, he realized Jack had been in his same clothes the whole week since he fell ill.

North thought about it some more and realized Jack had been in his same clothes the whole time they'd all known him.

The boy seemed to hate water for some odd reason, so he never showered. He hardly slept, so there was no need for pajamas. He was always at the right temperature (at least he was until his case of hyperthermia), so he never needed to put on or take off more clothing.

He only owned the blue sweatshirt and brown pants, so it's not like Jack ever had the option to change anyway.

North frowned at that thought and whistled until an army of elves waddled in the door.

"Get clothing to fit boy. Please."

The elves nodded and some saluted and one tipped over from something (or nothing) before scurrying out of the room all at once which led to a jam in the doorway, but North just shook his head and called over his shoulder "jammies are best!" and proceeded over to Jack.

North gently lifted the boy, who was nothing more than a rag doll as the guardian shifted him about, and propped him against the back of the couch easily. Jack hardly weighed a thing; any of the elves could match his weight.

"Jack, you too skinny. You feel nothing in belly like dis," North patted his own protruding gut in pride, but the unconscious boy took no notice. North peeled the sweatshirt off the his youngest guardian and ruffled the white hair slightly as he tugged it over the head and set it across the couch.

For the love of MiM, the elves would be heavier than this boy!

Jack's rib cage showed through his pale skin and his stomach was caved in sickeningly. North looked at the torso, playing 'Where's Waldo while looking for so much as an ounce of fat. How could a boy with so little body heat get hyperthermia? North poked one of the ribs with a pudgy finger and could feel the frailness of the bones protecting the lungs and heart. There was hardly any skin there to cushion the jab and Jack grunted in his state.

North had no more time to worry over the thinness of Jack's teenage body for the elves jumbled back in the room, carrying a variety of things. A few Christmas light bulbs, some screws, a shoelace, and a small assortment of pajamas from the rare elves to understand orders.

North shifted himself so they could not see past his massive figure to Jack's scrawny one and smiled brightly at all the elves - even the clueless ones - who grinned back. He scanned the useful choices brought to him and turned down the pink pajamas littered with hearts and the green ones covered in frogs, but his smile broadened as he reached for the light blue pajamas with snowflakes on them and patted the elf who brought them on the head.

_Perfect_.

He thanked them again and even accepted the shoelace to please a persistent elf and shooed them away.

North would not focus on Jack's body yet, but instead centered himself on getting the boy into some new, lighter, more comfortable clothing. He reached for Jack's shoulder, shuddering as he felt the roughness of the blade beneath the paper-thin skin and pulled the teen forward as to slip the pajama shirt around the bony boy.

But the festering scars made North's focus return to the body, allowing the shirt to drop softly to the floor.

Jack's back was _hidden_ in scars and markings, completely _covered_ in them! Some puffed out in odd shapes, others just left slender lines, but no more than an inch of skin at a time was left unmarred. North flinched away from Jack, but regained control and caught the boy before he fell forward to join the shirt on the floor. Every scar, varying from a few inches to almost a foot, left a dark mark, almost the color of an average child's skin tone.

North couldn't place what could cause these. Any injury guardians received would leave no trace once healed. But then again, guardians should never forget their past lives like Jack did. Maybe his body was dysfunctional just as his memory was. Did that mean Pitch did this? Or another enemy before they acknowledged Jack?

No - _these scars_ - they looked like _whip _marks. Like someone had beaten Jack with a thin branch or belt. But this was Jack! He was powerful enough to throw off any enemy, he would never just lay down and take a beating. North ran his fingers over the the skin, pretending that he would only feel a smooth back and not the small hills of whip scars, but even the guardian of wonder couldn't pretend the marks weren't there as his fingers came into contact with each past wound. His mind flustered to think of a way the scars were possible, but nothing could make sense in the un-jolly mind.

North's shaky hands picked up the shirt from the ground and he guided Jack's arms through the sleeves as quickly as possible to cover up the back, too nauseous to look at the at the scars any further. His unstable fingers did their best to button up the shirt, but in the end, North only forced two of the clasps closed.

The guardian of wonder yanked off Jack's pants with swiftness, tossing them angrily to lay with Jack's hoodie, the same stupid hoodie that had kept the young guardian's pain and weakness hidden for so long, and awkwardly forced the new pajama bottoms on over the worn underwear; he worked as quickly as possible as to avoid anymore scars that would keep him from finishing his task.

When he was done, North laid Jack back down onto the couch and stared at the young spirit. Eyes were shut softly, lips were parted with easy breaths; Jack lay unknown to the world around him and North wished he could keep it that way. He could keep Jack in his home forever and let him lay as peacefully as he did right now, never allowing another scar to befall the young boy.

But Jack was energy at its finest and being cooped up is what had led to his illness; North could never force Jack to stay here to be protected, it would be no better than what Pitch had done to Tooth's fairies.

Jack grumbled something in his sleep and turned a bit, disrupting North out of his thoughts. If the boy kept this up, he'd be awake by tomorrow and causing mischief with the yetis just a few hours after.

But the hurting of their youngest guardian would not go unsought and North whistled again and elves filed in the room.

He pointed to Jack. "Watch. Watch _quitely_." The elves nodded once more and clambered up onto the couch, on the back of it, squatting on the floor beside it, standing on the armrest Jack's head rested on and bending down with precise balance to stare intently into the young one's face. But they did it all in silence.

North exited the room and made his way through the halls and into his workshop before collapsing into his chair and the shakiness returning. What was he to do knowing about the pain of their new member? Jack was family and they needed to know how to deal with him...but how?

North pushed the cookies off his desk and called in a few of the yetis to seek out and hand letters North briefly wrote to Toothina, Sandy and Bunnymund.

He needed to discuss this with the guardians.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Bunnymund is 6'1".**


	7. Toothache

**Title:** Toothache

**Rating:** M (for language and violence)

**Characters (besides Jack):** all of the guardians

**Genre:** Hurt

**Summary:** The guardians find a way to discover how Jack got his scars, but they won't like the answer.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 209

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 155

* * *

"This is the only way," Tooth whispered as she fluttered around a huge room with containers of teeth and picture of boys and girls on the front poking from the walls, "to find out what happened to Jack."

"Tooth, we don' even know tha' he got 'em as a human."

"Guardians can't get scars Bunny!" She hissed back at him, levitating in the air in front of the other three.

"Guardians can' lose their mem'ries eithah, but Frostbite did tha'!" Bunnymund's voice raised angrily - not from his comrades, but from knowing that Jack had been so seriously injured and never told them - before Sandy pressed a golden finger to his lips.

"MiM does not effect the mind when he creates a legend, only the body, and event then, changed only what he must. Sandy never scarred from Picth's arrow," the all pretended to not hear the slight waver in her voice from the memory, "just like none of us can ever have markings of past boo-boos." Bunny's nose twitched; she'd been speaking in a more 'motherly fashion' to the boy they were gathered for since the day he called her mom, maybe it was slipping in how she talked to everybody now. "If Jack couldn't retain his memories, it wasn't MiM's doing."

"I still don' un-!"

"Shh!" Tooth hushed him before turning back around and flying further down the room, gesturing for them to follow.

"Whaddo we hafta be so quiet fer anyway?" The pooka's words were considerably softer in an attempt to please the others.

"No one is ever suppose to be in here but me, not even my fairies, I can't let them know you're in here too!"

"What is here Tooth?" North questioned, his eyes roaming the walls in curiosity as they all proceeded to the back of the room. For such large space, it was hardly occupied; the only objects in the room were the cases of teeth with the pictures of children who almost look familiar, but North couldn't place any names. He knew every child in the world (as his 'lists' were not physical paper with writing on it, just categories of naughty and nice in his mind). The pictures couldn't have been of true children.

"This is the room where the teeth of legends are kept," she whispered excitedly, proving North's idea to be correct and leading them further back into the room. "They're in order of the ages, so Jack's will be all the way towards the back."

It took a while, but finally the four reached the back wall and off to the right, about seven feet up, protruded a container with a brown-haired, brown-eyed boy grinning on the side. Tooth fluttered up and removed it delicately, as if it would shatter at any moment, and cradled it to her chest as she dropped back down the the men.  
"Ain' this an invasion o' Jack's privacy?" Bunnymund questioned.

"Something hurt Jack. He has never let us know about scars before. We must know what happened to help Jack heal." North responded, holding his head high as if his explanation made searching through someone's memories without permission okay.

"But shoul'n't he deal with it himself?"

"300 years was more than enough time to deal with things on his own," Tooth whispered.

No one could argue with that fact.

Her fingers graced along the small case and gently tugged out a new tube filled with tiny teeth, all belonging to Jack Frost at one point.

"How do ya know which one to use?"

"We won't be using any of these," Tooth assured the pooka and gracefully handed him the the gold utensil holding the teeth. He peered at the face on the container; brown hair and brown eyes? This kid look too different to be Jack. But Bunnymund looked closer and saw the mischievous eyes captured so perfectly in the picture.

Only Jack had that naughty look.

Tooth reached into her feathers at her sides and pulled out a small purple cloth and covered her hand with it. The guardian of memories turned the original container upside down until a single tooth rolled out and she clutched it in the cloth between her forefinger and thumb.

"Each child has a tooth that is much more painful to lose than the rest of their teeth," she explained softly, her voice quiet enough to not even echo in the humongous room, "and that tooth will hold their worst memories. My fairies return the teeth with the happier memories in times of need, but we always hold on to that special tooth to help ease the pain of the unhappier things children remember. Sometimes it helps them to forget certain details of bad experiences or it lifts some of the weight of the unpleasantries left behind from whatever happened," she held the tooth up for them all to see. "This tooth must have Jack's worst memory."

It looked no different from any of the teeth in the container Bunnymund held, but Tooth was the expert in memories and teeth, so they trusted her.

"How do we access memory?" North asked as he leaned in closer to study the tooth. It was so pale, so little, held in Tooth's hands as if it would be crushed away to nothing if she held it too tightly.

The tooth was too much like Jack to not be his.

"Everybody grab hands," she instructed and glided over to Bunnymund to retrieve the tube of teeth and place it back in the larger container and flying up to put everything in it's rightful spot. She dropped down to them, straightened her feathers, and they grasped one another's hands.

"Will it take us to the right mem'ry?"

"It should. If Jack's as bad as North said, I'd hate to see what could be worse than the memories of what caused those scars," Tooth whispered sadly and shivered as if to prove her point. She placed her tiny hand into North's giant one and dropped the purple cloth that separated her bare skin from Jack's tooth.

* * *

"You lying bitch!"

The shout caused the guardians to drop hands and whirl around to see a burly man towering over a woman with a sneer on her face. Both had brown hair and eyes like the boy on Jack's tooth box. So technically they both looked like Jack...human Jack. The dingy, little shack couldn't have been more of a change of scenery compared to Tooth's majestic palace. It was dirty and dimly lit with air so frozen, Bunnymund had to remind himself that Jack didn't have his abilities yet. The guardians were in what appeared to be a poor excuse for a kitchen; not that they could tell by the food everywhere - there were not even crumbs among the opened cupboards - but by the wobbly table that separated the man and woman with filthy place mats on top. They would have wandered about the makeshift kitchen some more if the woman's response hadn't caught their attention.

"Me? You're nothing but a cheating bastard! A good for nothing, reckless, stupid bastard husband!"

"I thou' people in this time we're 'pose to be friendly and nevah cursin'! Whassup their behinds?" Bunnymund asked loudly about the noise of the couple, but received no reply.

"Shut up!" The man roared and picked up a porcelain bowl. North had no time to wonder how the couple could afford such a rare thing as porcelain in their time while their kitchen laid bare because the bowl was coming toward him after the intended target, the woman, ducked. It passed through him and into the wooden wall behind him where it shattered and fell onto a small object in the corner.

A scream of pain came from behind them and Tooth gasped when she saw the object - a small boy - squirm in agony. The shards of porcelain had wedged their way into the skin and the small child shook in pain.

"Jackie!" A little muffled voice cried out and it took all of the guardians a moment to understand the shout came from beneath the boy.

He was sheltering a little girl from the shouts and violence with his own body.

The boy was Jack.

Brown-haired and tightly shut eyes with small trickles of blood coming from beneath his thin shirt, but still the small little figure, no older than nine, could only be the winter spirit.

"Jack!" Tooth screamed. She zoomed over to the children and kneeled beside them. She reached her hands out to staunch the bleeding of a few wounds, but she just fell through the two. She tried again to help Jack, this time to pick out the shards of porcelain, but it seemed as if she was not even there as every time she phased through him and cried out helplessly.

Tooth was too distracted with worry to hear Bunny come up beside her, so she was surprised when two furry arms wrapped around her and lifted her from the ground.

"No!" She sobbed and squirmed to get away, but Bunnymund refused to let her go, much like Jack did with the little girl.

"Toothina! You know we can not interfere with memories," North scolded but Bunny and Sandy could see the helplessness in his eyes.

"But he's hurt!" She shrieked.

"No, he is not! This is only memory! Jack is okay now. Jack is at workshop with elves. Jack is okay. Jack. Is. Safe."

North's words seemed to push past Tooth's desperation and her sobs died into whimpers and she stopped struggling against Bunnymund, but she shot pitiful glances over her shoulder at the blood-covered boy and the crying little girl.

Sandy ignored the three guardians and the fighting couple and drifted over to young Jack and the girl he covered.

"You're hurt!" The small girl whimpered with tears streaking her face.

"No, I'm fine," Jack's voice was so high pitched and different from what he had now that Sandy had to smile, just a little bit.

"Daddy hurt you!"

"Shhh, don't be so loud. They're not gonna come bother us, we're safe if we just stay still. You'll be safe."  
Jack reached out a pale hand under him and stroked the hair of the little girl while she clung to his shirt and cried into his chest. After a few moments, Sandy could hear Tooth's whimpers end as Jack's curled body relaxed more and more and his hand petting the girl slowed down. That wasn't good.

Sandy peered at his face and noticed how pale Jack was becoming. Almost as pale as the sleeping Jack at the workshop. The breathing steadied and Jack's body sagged over the little girl.

* * *

"Where're we?" Bunnymund grumbled, letting go of Tooth as she stood weakly. The guardians stood in front of a little...something. Whatever it was, it made the shack look like a decent house. They all glanced at the crummy shelter and shivered just a bit before Sandy conjured blankets out of sand for each of them.

"Thank you," Tooth said shakily, her voice rough from screaming for Jack. "What happened?"

Sandy conjured up an image of the porcelain shards falling onto the young Jack again - doing his best to ignore the distressed looks from his friends - and as the shards fell onto him, sand would spray out wherever the piece would hit. The image of Jack placed his hand to his forehead before swaying and then closing his eyes and collapsing.

"Jack passed out from blood loss?"

Sandy nodded to confirm North's question and bit his lip when Tooth let out a sad moan for the boy.

"What're we doin' here?" Bunnymund wrapped the sand blanket tighter around himself and looked from side to side, not seeing or hearing anything in the darkness.

"Zere!" North boomed and pointed and they all rushed to the shelter, letting their sand blankets fall to the ground and disappear, and leaned against the wall to hear, but simply phased through.

The guardians wished they hadn't come in.

The never-ending curiosity and ache to know what was on the other side would have been better than the sight that answered them.

"I was only trying to protect her!" Jack sobbed. He was older now, just as old as he had been for 300 years. He was the height the guardians were used to, though his hair and eyes still looked unnatural. North could see the frailness of the boy beneath his worn out shirt and make out almost all of his bones.

"You're fucking mother doesn't need your damn protection!" The man from the past memory hissed. He too was older, still as bulky as before with his hand gripping Jack's wrist.

"You almost killed her!"

"Shut the hell up!" The man drew his hand back and smashed his fist into Jack's mouth. The teen cried out and dropped to his knees and cradled his bloodied face. Jack coughed a few times before spitting out blood and something else that bounced once it hit the floor.

'_The tooth_!' The fairy thought as the white little thing came to a stop beneath her hovering feet. It was the same tooth she had buried in her feathers right now, it had to be. But this was how Jack lost that tooth? Being punched by a parental figure? Tooth felt her stomach-churn; most kids lost theirs in a rough sport or when it was painfully yanked out by doing the stupid string and door-slamming trick. But being punched by a man who was likely his father?!

Tooth couldn't help it and her tears started flowing once more.

The man kicked Jack in the side and the boy cried out again.

"You're not going to disobey again you worthless little shit!" Jack cringed at swear.

The man unbuckled the belt he was wearing; it was made of dried out, stiff leather, but moved easily out of the loops on his pants.

Jack was focusing too much on his current pain to notice how the man raised the belt high above his head with a look of pure, raw anger.

No, not anger.

Rage.

North grabbed Tooth by the shoulders, spun her around and brought her into his massive chest and held his hands over her ears. He could not shelter Jack from this scene, but he would try to hide the pain from Toothina. But not even North's thick, heavy hands could block out the sound of the belt snapping as it came down and the sickening crack it made against Jack's skin.

Tooth screamed into North's chest, burying her face further. Sandy stood still in shock, his mouth agape at the screams of their little guardian. Bunnymund clutched his stomach and hopped through the wall again, dry heaving from the sight.

The man brought the whip down over and over again.

Jack screamed over and over again.

The guardians flinched over and over again.

It had to stop.

North pulled Tooth back and looked at her.

"Where is Jack's tooth? We must get out of here!" He shouted over the snapping and cracking and screaming.

Tooth nodded quickly and she grabbed Sandy and North and pulled them out to where Bunnymund was emptying his stomach from the nauseousness of it all.

"Grab hands," she croaked. They all obeyed the command once more, each hand shaking as it clutched another one.

Tooth fished Jack's tooth out of her pocket and the scene was no more.

* * *

As soon as they returned to Tooth's palace, the fairy sobbed that she needed to see Jack right away, so she raised up into the air and she flew off with the others close behind.

She and Sandy flew all the way to North's workshop, never stopping for a break, while North jumped into his sleigh and Bunnymund opened up a hole as soon as he reached a space Earth-based ground.

Bunny arrived first with Tooth coming in second a minute after and Sandy directly behind her. They had to wait all of about 30 seconds before North sleigh pulled in and he came rushing through the door not long after.

"I've got to go check on him!" Tooth sobbed and bolted down the hallway with the rest of them chasing after her.

She had visited Jack enough to know every twist and turn that led to his room and would find her way their blindfolded.

She threw open the door, scaring the dozen elves that were staring down at the sleeping Jack. Tooth zoomed over to the couch, kneeling beside the boy - her adopted son! - and shook his shoulders roughly.

"Wake up Jack, wake up! I'm tired of you sleep

She pounded on his chest and wouldn't behave even when the other three filed in the room.

"Please Jack, I need you to wake up! Just tell me you're alright!"

She was crying so hard into the chest that she didn't notice the slight shifts Jack made. She shook him through her tears and continued to plead with his unconscious form.

"Tooth," Bunny started, but she wouldn't listen.

"Toothina!" North called, but she wouldn't hear him.

Sandy snapped and tried to get her attention, but she wouldn't look.

Tooth sobbed through all of their attempts and shook until a hand was placed on her shoulder.

An icy hand.

"Mom?"

* * *

**RotG Fact: Tooth knows every language of the world.**


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

**1.) I know I said that these chapters wouldn't have a whole lot to do with each other, but a lot of you seem to like it. So what do you think I should do? Should I keep all the one-shots separate? Or should I base them off one-another like I did with the Scarring thing?**

**2.) I love reviews guys, but for those of you who say 'Update soon!' or 'please update,' I love the encouragement, but be aware that I'm posting a new chapter for everyday of the month, so the pleas are unneeded.**

**3.) I was planning for more than just a lot of Jack hurt, but that seems to get you all riled up. Do you like Hurt/Comfort stories best? Or should their be a variety? Or do you think I should write more for a specific category?**

**4.) As I said, I love reviews, but I want to improve my writing! Criticism is much appreciated!**

**5.) I have plans for some Bunny/Jack pretty soon, but I'm so swamped that I'm not sure I can get two up in one day, but I promise slash lovers, they will be featured! And I promise non-slash lovers, I will not post a Bunny/Jack thing without a non-Bunny/Jack thing!**

**6.) I have a few more ideas - and I'm sure I'll be inspired soon - but if anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear some ideas! Anything you guys want to see me explore in writing or something you think would be interesting, please PM me (not review because people would see it and then ruin the surprise)**

**7.) Am I making the facts clear enough? Like can you guys understand each thing I'm trying to express about Jack in the chapters?**

**8.) I really love all of you for making this story so popular; I know it's not likely, but I'd really love to be somewhere up with Twisted Skys's 'Invisible' (which has the most favorites and followers for all RotG stories). It's not likely and maybe hoping for that makes me seem cocky, but you all have made me so wonderfully optimistic about this thing that I dare to hope for it.**


	9. The Only Person

**Title: **The Only Person

**Rating:** T (just to be safe, brief mentions of abuse)

**Characters (besides Jack):** all the guardians

**Genre: **Angst/Hurt

**Summary:** Jack was hurt in his past life, but it was never himself he was concerned for.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **245

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **185

* * *

Tooth sobbed into Jack's hair as she hugged him tightly. She cried about how they knew everything, about how the guardians would never let anything happen to him again, about how she would love him scars or not, abuse or not.

Jack would have paled if he could. He reached for his staff (resting on the wall beside the couch) and made a desperate attempt to fly off, but only shook unsteadily in the air for no more than ten seconds before hitting the ground once more.

He wobbled on his feet; he hadn't known a week had passed since he was last conscious. Jack took a look at the other males in the room, all saddened faces and sorrowful eyes. North, Sandy and Bunny looked as if Jack would shatter should they make any move towards him.

Jack turned away from their expressions and gritted his teeth, taking their sorrow as pity. He defeated fear itself, Jack Frost did not need pity!

He steadied himself and pushed past Bunnymund before Tooth could pull him into another teary embrace and leaped over an elf, which was not a good idea since he stumbled on the landing and fell into the door frame, but Jack did not let the stop him. He swung out of the room and ran down the hall with the sound of his feet slapping the floor filling the silence.

"Jack!" Tooth cried out, fluttering passed the other three to chase him, but Bunnymund got out the door first and was pounding through the narrow passage after the boy.

"You're goin' ta hur'chaself Frostbite!" He warned. Jack wasn't very hard to keep up with, in fact Bunny was almost disappointed he caught up to the young guardian so easily. But he reminded himself that Jack had been out cold (well out warm at first) for a week without time to so much as stretch his legs.

Jack was stumbling when he reached the end of the hall and Bunnymund had to do little more than walk behind him before Jack shook and collapsed. Bunnymund was already right behind him and caught the teen in his furry arms and lifted him up sooner than he could hit the floor.

"Lem'me go," Jack whimpered. He shivered violently and gasped; the long hallway had done more than winded him.

"Jack!" Tooth shouted as she floated beside Bunny and peered at the boy. Pale face as always and crystal blue eyes, but an exhausted expression masked his features and he sucked in air as though his lungs would never be full.

"We're all gonna have a family meetin', Frostbite."

Bunny carried Jack into the closest room with Tooth hovering above him and Sandy and North just a few steps behind.

"Where are we?" Jack gazed around everything, but nothing looked familiar, he couldn't think of how he got to this place. "Aren't we suppose to be in the Warren?"

"Ya caught a bad case o' hyperthermia; you've been out fer a week."

"A week?! How can I ge-?"

"T'is not the same as hypothermia. You had too much heat in Warren; heat makes a boy of winter very ill!" North boomed as he walked over to open the windows.

"A whole week?" Jack whispered in shock. His fingers curled into Bunny's fur without him commanding them to; he felt so weak, he needed something physical to tell him this wasn't all a dream. How could he be out for seven days? Never mind that, how could they know about his scars?

"Calm down, sweet tooth, we're just here to help you. We want to help you deal with your bad memories."

'_Sweet tooth_?' Jack pondered. It sounded nice. It was a term of affection. But this wasn't the time for affection.

"I don't need any help! I dealt with those memories already." He squirmed in Bunnymund's arms, willing to be put down, to stand tall like an confident, independent teen would and hold his head high.

"You are family now. Whatever you deal with, we deal with," North declared, nodding his head as if there was no argument to be made. But Jack was too stubborn not to not to disagree.

"I think we can all see why I'm not interested in a family."

Tooth flinched at the words so cold it was like Jack had formed his winter element into a verbal power.

"Jack, we would never hurt you like that. We only want to protect you."

The winter spirit felt his anger fade; he couldn't be mad at Tooth. He had mistaken her for a mother - a _decent_ mother - with her loving demeanor towards him too many times.

"I don't need protection," he whispered. He had stopped his struggling in Bunny's arms and shook. The family he couldn't even remember had disappointed him; they had treated him like dirt and allowed him and his sister to starve and go with untreated injuries caused by their hands.

His sister. The only decent person to be a part of his family and he failed her.

"You may not need it, but yer not turnin' down the offer," Bunnymund said stoically. Sandy folded his arms and nodded his golden head in agreement.

"I don't deserve protection!" Jack hissed.

"What on Earth would make you say that?" Tooth gasped. Jack deserved every ounce of love they had to give.

"I failed her," he whispered.

"Failed who?"

"That's exactly it!" Jack shouted and squirmed in Bunnymund's hold once more and wouldn't stop until his feet were safely on the ground. "I failed her by not knowing who she is, not remembering who she _was_." Jack threw his hands up in despair. "I couldn't protect her, I couldn't get her enough food, I left her with our parents to defend for herself! The one decent family member I had, the most important person in my life, and I can't even remember what her name was." His voice broke at the end, bottom lip quivering and he looked around the guardians; surely they would realize what a poor family member he would be. He had nothing to offer them. Nothing to offer anyone.

"Jack," Tooth called softly, reaching a hand out to him, but Jack flinched back.

"The one person I was willing to die for," the words shook as they filled the room, "and I can't remember who she was."

Jack's legs wobbled and he collapsed to the floor.

"Even by dying for her, I failed her. I saved her only to condemn her to a life with no one to protect her." Her, her, _her_. That's all he had to address the little girl by._  
_

"I don't care about any of these stupid scars, I can't remember any pain from them or what I even did to deserve them -"

"You didn't do anything to deserve them, sweet tooth."

"- and I don't care about any of the nasty names I was called. They didn't mean anything to me then, they don't mean anything to me now. But the one thing I did care about, I failed time and time again."

Tears fell from the frozen blue eyes and he let down his weakness. It wasn't falling ill, it wasn't how all he did was create messes, it was disappointing the only person in his life that he cared about.

"Jack," Tooth's voice broke more than his did, "we watched you. You protected her from everything that you could."

Sandy nodded and squatted in front of Jack to get his attention; once the teen looked up, Sandy threw some sand above their heads and watched as it morphed into a smiling, young Jack with the little girl grinning beside him. The happy faces turned into fear as the man and woman from Jack's memories appeared from more sand and Jack grabbed the little girl's hand and pulled her behind him and shrouded her body with his own.

"I know," the winter spirit choked and looked down once more, "but I left her with them alone."

Silence.

"Ya mean when ya..."

"Yeah," Jack bit his quivering lip as more tears slid down.

Tooth flitted over to him and dropped heavily to the ground around him. Her wings were already drooping in sadness for the boy. She flung her arms around him and pulled him into her, raking her fingers through his snowy hair while whispering comforting words into his ears. Jack finally broke completely and began sobbing for the little girl, for the memories of her he could never get.

Sandy fell into the embrace next since he was the closest. He wrapped his plumb stubbly arms around the other side of Jack and used his sand to soak up some of the tears.

North thudded over and plopped beside them, pulling all three into his lap and wrapping his arms around Tooth and Sandy, staying solemnly quiet and soberly clutching them all.

Bunnymund joined last. He was the only one who thought Jack would be uncomfortable with all the body heat surrounding him, but the cries diminished his concerns and he hopped over, leaning against Jack and using his fur to catch the tears Sandy didn't.

After a while, and after the sobs faded into soft whimpers and then into steady breathing, the guardians broke apart to reveal a sleeping Jack in the middle of them all.

Tooth swooped down and scooped the boy up - North hadn't been kidding when he told her Jack weighed less than a bag of teeth - and slowly flew down the hall with him and into the room he'd been sleeping in for the past week. North, Bunny and Sandy, with Jack's staff in his hands, followed behind her and watched as she laid him gently on the couch and wiped the tears streaks from his gentle face.

North looked at Sandy and Sandy looked at Tooth and Tooth looked at Bunny and Bunny looked at Jack. They wouldn't leave him. They couldn't leave him.

"I'll get blankets," North announced and marched out of the room. Sandy clapped happily and floated over to Jack, picking a spot at the end of the couch where Jack's tucked up body didn't reach. Tooth picked the spot on the floor nearest Jack's head and Bunny hopped over and curled up beneath Sandy.

North returned with blankets and pillows in a stack higher than his head and passed them out to all of the guardians and picked a spot in a chair on the other side of the room.

One by one they nodded off, Sandy being the last because he had no need to ever rest, but he sprinkled a little sand above all of their heads before taking off via the open window, never looking behind.

He knew Jack was in good hands.

* * *

**RotG Fact: In his human life, Pitch had a daughter.**


	10. We Are Young

**Title: **We are Young

**Rating:** K+

**Characters (besides Jack):** North

**Genre: **Humor

**Summary: **North knew the song, he knew it was popular, but he never knew someone could butcher it so badly.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **270

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **201

* * *

It had been the same song for three days now.

72 hours.

4320 minutes.

259200 seconds.

Non-stop.

North could hear it, Jack wasn't that far away. He could hear the music - he didn't know where the noise was coming from, _since the North Pole_ _didn't even have a stereo_ - and Jack's singing. He was quiet, whispering the words in a different room but still filling the entire Workshop with his soft, un-tuned voice, like he always was before the chorus. The chorus was where the boy truly showed off his lungs.

"_So if by the time...the bar closes...and you feel like falling down, I'll carry...you home..._"

North held his breath; he should have been used to it after the first 3600 seconds, he knew what was coming, but each time that specific part came, he had to prepare himself.

"_TONIIII-IIIIIGHT, we are YOOOOOOUUUNG, so let's set the world on FIIII-RE! We can burn BRIIIGH-TER than the SUUU-OOOO-UUUUN_!"

The guardian of wonder, who could even hear the gasps Jack took in between each line so he could bellow out the next with just as much vigor, flinched in his seat. How could one person be so...so..._untalented_?

The past three days had been filled with Jack's singing and shrieking. But what it hadn't been filled with was work. More specifically, North's work.

It appeared that as long as the song kept playing, Jack would have energy. The music was to Jack what coffee was to humans; a charge, a drug to avoid sleep for days. For _three_ days. Quite a drug to accomplish that.

North had gone out on multiple occasions, but the same sight stopped him each time from demanding that the music cease.

Jack had been shooting across the workshop, eyes clenched shut and the muscles in his throat strained, with mouth stretched as far as his lips would allow, making sure his howls were the only things to be heard. He seemed like an ecstatic child as he flung himself from wall to wall, just out of the yetis' reach as he screeched out the lyrics.

The passion, the energy, the grin through the slaughter of the song; it was all enough to immediately forgive the boy for being so loud and unpredictably off-key.

Each time, North would nod to no one and turn back to his office and attempt to work with the noise, but to no success.

And each time, North would stand up a few hours later with new resolve and march out of his office to demand that the noise end.

And each time, Jack's joy would kill the command, much like his voice did to the song.

North relaxed once more; he had memorized the song (unwillingly) and the next few lines were Jack's favorite and the teen honestly did his best with those.

"_The moon is on my side, I have no reason to run..._"

Jack always sung that in a new tune, no screaming or even attempting with his from of singing, instead just shouting out the words with a confidence North had never heard.

"_The angels never arrived, but I can hear the choir, so will someone come and carry me home TONIIIIII-IGHT_?"_  
_

North sighed as the awful singing returned and racked his brain for the lists he so desperately needed to alter.

He couldn't tell Jack to stop with his broken voice and pounding music.

But he certainly could place little Jamie Bennett's name on the naughty list for not hiding his i-pod from the winter spirit.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Pitch and Sandy are identical spirits.**


	11. Contact

**Title: **Contact

**Rating: **K

**Characters (besides Jack):** all of the guardians

**Genre: **Family

**Summary: **He didn't mind the soft pats or gentle hugs. In fact, he enjoyed them.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **312

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **228

**Idea From: **LaZy-RaIn-DaNcE

* * *

One would think that through everything, Jack would not enjoy being touched. That the boy would scowl at physical contact and shy away from hugs. Perhaps even snap at the ruffling of his snowy hair.

But as the past has shown them, Jack never disappointed to be exactly the opposite of what the guardians expected.

Sandy noticed it first. He seemed to notice everything first; he was never included in many conversations, it was easier to just watch people than try to be heard (or have his images seen).

He saw it with Tooth in the very beginning. Every time she came to visit, which was every day, she would circle Jack, concealing him in a blur of green, before diving in and squeezing him between her feathery arms, smooshing her cheek against his. Jack would always tense up from the contact, but he would relax in her arms slowly, so slowly, Sandy had originally believed it to be just something his imagination made up.

Tooth would stroke the shaggy hair and hold him, not saying a word and Jack not prompting her to. Sandy would see the way Jack would lean into the touches of his hair and face, his body relaxed and his face even showing content.

Then Tooth would pull away, peck him on the cheek, and fly to and fro on whatever business she had to take care of.

Sandy was surprised the overly-affectionate motherly-figure would miss the look of abandonment on the face she just left.

But North and his jolly, good self would wipe the heart-wrenching expression from the boy's face as he went around clapping them all on the back (with the exception of Tooth; Sandy remembered the first and last time North had tried to greet the fairy in such a manner, crushing her wings with his strength and leaving her on the ground for weeks) and Jack would stumble from the powerful pats. North would laugh and grab Jack by the arm, preventing him from falling, and lifted the boy into the air by his shoulders and pulled Jack into a hug, slamming the winter spirit into his massive chest and swinging him back and forth like a child does with a teddy bear.

Sandy would flinch for the boy; he could hear the _whoosh_ of air expelled from Jack's lungs for each hug and see the eyes shoot open wide every time, as if the teen believed he could suck in oxygen through his sockets if he made them large enough. North would then set the boy back down to the ground and Jack would collapse to his knees, drawing in air greedily.

Sandy still caught the smile on his pale face through the gasps.

Even Bunnymund, with his rough touches and feisty grips, had gained Jack's approval for physical contact after he had began to expect the pranks and teases of the winter spirit and no longer yelled at him for any of it, instead choosing to chase down the boy, with his powerful legs shooting him high enough to grab the guardian of fun out of the air and drag him back to the ground. Bunny would wrap a furry arm around Jack's neck, capturing the boy in a choke-hold, gentle enough to not harm the boy in any way, but stern enough to prove who was in charge. He would raise a giant paw and Jack would watch it and struggle; the same thing always came next.

Bunnymund would place his paw on Jack's head and ruffle up the white hair despite Jack's squirming. The teen would holler for the pooka to stop, but his threats were hardly audible through his laughter.

Bunny would release Jack, who would scramble away before the other could change his mind and snatch the boy back up. Bunny would smirk, twitch his pink nose and hop away to fetch whatever it was he needed.

Sandy noticed the blue eyes shining through the messed up hair, eyes shining bright with joy and giddiness and...dare he say..._love_?

The Sandman decided to test his theory one day while Jack was studying some of the toys the yetis gave him so he would stay out of their way. He floated over to the boy and dropped beside him without so much as a peep and grabbed the pale hand to get his attention.

Jack was startled a bit, still unused to the attention Sandy suspected he enjoyed more than the guardians knew. Jack looked down at the golden hand in his and grinned at the dreamer.

"How's it hangin', Sandy?"

Sandy had just grinned back up and squeezed the hand, watching Jack's smile grow from the contact. He let his hand drop, much like Jack's face from the break in contact. The guardian of dreams hadn't moved, hadn't stopped grinning, but the loss of touch as all that was needed to create a brief expression of disappointment across the winter spirit's face.

Sandy's suspicions were correct: Jack enjoyed physical affection by them. Hugs (even breath-taking ones), head-locks, hand-holding, it didn't matter what it was. He liked it.

Sandy placed his hand back into Jack's, watching the disappointment fade into happiness once more. He tugged lightly on the arm, leading Jack around the workshop, hand in hand, in silence, for their was no need to talk or conjure images.

Jack squeezed the hand and Sandy squeezed back. He needed to use more physical contact on the boy.

After all, they had 300 years of affection-showing to catch up on.

* * *

**RotG fact: Tooth's palace has existed for more than 1000 years.**


	12. Fear

**Title: **Fear

**Rating:** T

**Characters (besides Jack):** all the guardians

**Genre: **Hurt

**Summary:** Confessing their fears. They knew it was going to be emotional. They knew it would hurt.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **327

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **243

* * *

Going across his daily duties, Sandy had stumbled upon some fearlings. They were slow and galloped on wobbly legs - Sandy took them out with no problem - but they were fearlings nonetheless.

After they discussed it, the guardians decided that the creatures were simply ones that had hid from the battle just a few weeks prior and grown weaker and weaker with the flow of happy dreams until they no longer had the strength to hide.

But this was Pitch Black they were talking about and it wasn't safe to just assume about any matter regarding the Boogeyman.

"Pitch would come after guardians first," North declared as he paced his office and the other four watched him silently. "He will take care of us before going to children."

"_If_ it's even him," Bunnymund added with a casual eye roll.

"Yes, _if_ it is Pitch returning, he is targeting us first. We mustn't let Boogeyman feed on fears!"

"But we're _guardians_. What do _we_ have to be afraid of?" Jack asked, gazing around for an answer, finding one above Sandy's head: a picture of Pitch with an infinity sign beside him.

"Sandy's right," Tooth vocalized the pictures. "Fear will always be around. We can never stop it, only protect the children from it."

"So if this _is_ Pitch, what do we do?"

* * *

Tooth has volunteered to go first. She lays down on the couch in North's office on her tummy (to protect her precious wings) and comments on how weird it is to lie down when you're always in the air, but she doesn't finish the sentence before Sandy sprinkles a bit of sand above her head and she's fast asleep. The sand takes on the shape of Tooth gliding above houses, swooping in to gather the teeth of children dreaming like she is.

Sandy frowns before reaching out a hand with his pointer finger extended and pokes the fairy made of sand. The scene changes quickly and instead of flying, Tooth is on the ground...without wings. She clutches at her shoulder blades where her unique limbs should be, but finds nothing. The rest of the sand molds into cages containing her fairies, squeaking in panic in what would be several feet above Tooth's head if the dream weren't shrunk down so drastically. Noises that aren't squeaks come from cages furthest away from the guardian in her own dream. Sandy, Jack, North and Bunnymund peer closely and see it is all them locked in separate cells, sleep-deprived, staff-less, under-weight and fur-less respectively.

"A busy-body's greatest fear is being unable to do anything," concludes North and the other's nodded in agreement.

Bunnymund agrees to it next - after they had all calmed Tooth from her nightmare and forced her to look into a mirror to prove her wings are still intact - and he simply curls up at their feet, out just as quickly as Tooth once Sandy has sprinkled his dust above the furry ears.

Golden images arouse in the form of Jack coating the ground in what looks like fluffy snow and Bunny hopping through it, leaving large paw-prints and Easter eggs with intricate designs behind him.

Jack stands a little straighter at being included in a good dream of his friend, imagining in his head how Bunny's colorful eggs would look atop of his sparkling white snow. It'd be a beautiful Easter if he can convince the pooka to let him try it.

As soon as the figures of the two guardians run off to hide from the children beginning to form and snatch at the eggs and excitedly follow the foot prints, Sandy hesitantly jabs at the dream sand once more, but the sight doesn't alter. Sandy wears a perplexed face and almost touches the dream again, but Tooth stops him.

"Watch!"

Sandy lowers his hand and Bunnymund approaches from his hiding spot, with Jack nowhere to be found. The children do not look up at him or acknowledge him, no matter what he says or does. One child runs through Bunny, not between his legs, but actually _through_ him and Bunny's ears flatten against his head and his paws clutch at his chest as other children do the same, never seeing him or hearing him, as if he did not exist.

North is next with the couch creaking under his weight. The same thing happens and North is asleep with sand floating over him. In North's dream, children are waking up in their beds and scampering downstairs to see what Santa has brought them this year. They tear open present after present, squealing in joy with all the new gadgets and toys they've received.

Sandy prods the dream with the tip of his finger and it's as if Sandy has hit the rewind button. The children put the presents back in their boxes, re-wrap them, run backwards up the stairs and hop into bed. Without pressing play, time resumes back to normal and the children groggily get out of bed and slump downstairs once more. Each child gazes wearily at the presents before plopping down in front of the gifts and carefully pealing off the wrapping paper. The children lift out their presents and stare before flinging the item crafted especially for them over their shoulder and sitting around a now-dead Christmas tree.

Jack is second to last, and after seeing the horrible dreams of his companions, he isn't sure he wants to know what his deepest fear is. He backs away, tries to talk his way out of all this, but Sandy will not listen and throws some of his sand at the winter spirit before he can run out of the door. Jack groans and slumps against the door then to his knees and finally onto his side.

Tooth lifts the boy up and carries him over to the couch where North is just coming to with a hurt expression on. She lays Jack onto the couch as the sand above him begins to twist and turn into a laughing Jack clobbering Bunny and North with snowballs while attempting to hit Tooth and Sandy, but they dodge every throw. Bunnymund draws his arm back to hit Jack in the face with a snowball, but the boy waves his staff for a shield of ice to cover him, grinning. North uses the distraction to run around the scene and behind Jack, the sound of his footsteps concealed by the the boy's laughter, and hauls a pile of snow in his arms before dropping it onto the winter spirit. Jack whips around in shock, shaking the snow that camouflages in his hair, before he lets go of his staff as North lifts him off the ground and traps him in a hug.

"You are immobile little one! Free reign for revenge on Jack!"

Bunnymund grins devilishly with Tooth giggling behind him and Sandy floating closer. The three guardians create their own snowballs as they creep toward Jack, who was still struggling in North's arms.

"One," they count together, pulling their arms back.

"Two," Jack laughs and kicks out trying to break free of North's hold, but the hug is too tight.

"Three!"

Sandy reaches out and pokes the dream just as the snowballs are launched and the sand figures shift. Jack is no longer in North's arms and no one is grinning. The boy looks around in confusion, as if he can remember the fun they were just having, but he can't seem to form a question.

"Jack," Tooth starts, "thanks for your help with Pitch, but...ummm...you can go now."

This helps the winter spirit to find his voice. "What?"

Bunnymund sighs from behind Tooth. "Ya ain't needed anymo' Frostbite."

"What're you talking about?"

Sandy tosses some sand above his head, incredibly tiny within the dream already being so little, but it shows Tooth, North, Bunnymund and himself smiling and waving, while Jack walks out of a door to the side of the group.

"Jack, assistance is no longer needed, please leave," North shoos the boy away, but Jack doesn't move.

"What's going on? I don't understand!"

"We don't need you anymore, scram kid!" Tooth snaps.

"But I thought...you were...my..."

"Family? No, Jack, No! We use you for powers, not so silly boy can join family!"

"Stop!" Jack yells at North. "But I'm happy here and I'm not alone anymore...I can't be alone anymore you guys," his voice breaks with the last sentence and his lower lip trembles.

"We don't care what you can and can't do. At this point, your more trouble than your worth."

Jack's eyes widen in shock more than hurt. "Don't say that Tooth! You're never suppose to say that! You're suppose to be the one that will always love me no matter how bad I mess up!"

"Love? _You_? Ha! Try again kiddo, you're not getting any from us."

Another minuscule image is conjured by Sandy, showing Jack's face beneath a heart. A tear begins at the top, slowly climbing down until the heart is completely torn into two separate pieces.

"But, but I _need_ you guys. I...I don't wanna say that, it bites to admit it, but...I need you all. I need you to be there for me...without you, I don't know what I am."

"Frostbite, stop bein' so damn selfish!" Even in the dream, Jack flinches from the swear. Bunnymund takes a step forward and towers over the boy intimidatingly before crouching down to look him in the eyes. "We don't care about ya need or want, ya not our problem! We. Don't. Want. Ya. Unda'stand?"

Jack shakes his head. "No, I-I don't understand. I-I..."

Bunnymund straightens himself and glares down at the boy. Jack looks up, eyes filling with sandy tears, and meets Bunny's gaze, neither of them breaks the stare until the pooka shoves Jack in the chest, sending the boy flying until he lands on his back a few feet away.

"Beat it Frostbite!"

North picks up the staff Jack had dropped and turns it over in his hands. "Without this, Jack, you are nothing. With this, you are nothing. To us, you will always be nothing." North tosses the staff to the boy on the ground and turns away, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy following his actions and they all easily ignore the broken sobs, never looking back.

Sandy, actual Sandy, Sandy that cares for Jack, Sandy that looks so ashamed of images he never created, swipes through the dream with his hand, collecting all the nightmare sand above Jack's head and opening his fist to show the others that he had forced it to disappear.

It would have been a very relieving sight if the others were watching.

North has picked Jack's shaking form up and holds him through the whimpers and cringes that continued after the dream ended. Tooth - surprisingly dry-eyed - is on North's left, stroking Jack's face and murmuring into his ear, hoping his sleeping mind would understand that they were not going anywhere. Bunny sits on the other side of North, awkwardly rubbing Jack's arm with his soft paw, unsure of how to comfort the boy, but wanting to help.

Sandy is the only one to go over and try to wake Jack up. He shakes the shoulders lightly and Jack's eyes shoot open, gazing around unsure, confused with everything around him. He stretches in North's arms and grins lopsidedly up at them.

"Why does it seem like every time I go to sleep, I wake up to be surrounded by you guys?"

Sandy smiles. Jack's voice is heavy with sleep, but he knows where he was. He knows he is in North's office and, more importantly, he knows he is with people who love him.

And hopefully he knows he is with people who would never _stop_ loving him.

* * *

**RotG Fact: The reason why Sandy makes no noise is so he can never wake anyone up.**


	13. Ambidextrous

**Title:** Ambidextrous

**Rating:** T

**Characters (besides Jack):** Bunnymund

**Genre:** Friendship

**Summary:** "Oi! What did ya just do?" "What're you talking about?" "The thing with ya hands!"

**Followers (as of this chapter): **357

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 264

* * *

He'd munch on the apple with his left hand, freezing elves with his right. It was nothing out of the ordinary; in fact, Bunnymund was enjoying the consistency of the noises. The pitter-patter of feet as the elves scampered away, the soft sizzle as ice formed from Jack's staff, the muffled squeaks as the elves tried to speak but couldn't move their mouths beneath the frozen liquid and finally the crunch of teeth biting into the apple. The rhythm of it all seemed to help the pooka relax.

Pitter-patter.

Sizzle.

Squeak.

Crunch.

Pause.

Pitter-patter.

Sizzle.

Squeak.

Crunch.

Pause.

Pitter-patter.

No sizzle.

The guardian of hope had become so used to the sounds that the break in them caused his ears to raise up and his eyes to open immediately.

Bunny peered over to the side of the room where Jack was walking around as the elves ran in circles. The winter spirit scowled at his right hand as if it had done something wrong. He threw the apple in his left hand up in the air with a high arc, switched his staff into his left hand, caught the apple with his right hand and proceeded walking after the elves.

Pitter-patter.

Sizzle.

Squeak.

Crunch.

All as if nothing had happened.

Which, nothing really _did_ happen, but Bunny was curious.

"Oi! What did ya just do?"

"Huh?" Jack glanced away from the now frozen elf at his feet and to the rabbit. "What're you talking about?"

"The thing with ya hands!"

Jack looked at his hands with one raised eyebrow.

"Well," he lifted his right hand to show the apple, "this here is a process called _eating_, which is when one consumes an edible substance to fill the stomach and provide nourishment. However, this specifically is an apple - perhaps it's not the delicacy of carrots - but it's an acceptable item of which to snack on, snack on being another word for eating."

Bunnymund bit his tongue to keep from calling the kid a smart ass.

"Still confused?"

"I meant with the hand-switching thin'! Why'd ya switch ya apple and cane?"

"I switched my apple and _staff_ because my right hand was cramping up from holding it. What's it to you?"

"How'd ya do it so easily? It doesn't look hard fer ya to use both hands."

"It's not hard. I'm ambidextrous."

Silence.

"Really?"

Jack's brows furrowed at the question. "...Yes. Is this a problem?"

"Uh, no. Jus' curios, mate."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Pitter-patter.

Sizzle.

Squeak.

Crunch.

"How?"

"How what?"

"How're ya ambwhatserous?"

Jack's eyes widen in surprise. He glanced at Bunny, but quickly turned away from his friend and Bunnymund could see the teeth choosing the bottom lip over the apple to chew on.

"Frostbite?"

"In my...umm, back when I was a human, I-I got my hand broke alot," he paused and continued staring at the floor. "Both hands actually. So when one was broke, I had to use the other and it just sort of became easier."

Bunnymund's nose twitched. Broken hands? It didn't take the pooka long to understand what happened.

North had stepped on his paws once a very long time ago and it _hurt_. Bunny had to scamper away when tears of pain welled in his eyes - not that he'd admit that to anyone. But as he looked at Jack's hand, holding his staff and a half-eaten apple, Bunny realized how that would be nothing compared to the boy. The thin hands with no fur, not even any muscle, to cushion blows or stomping; it wouldn't take much at all to break the tiny bones. He flinched as his stomach churned like it always did when he thought about Jack's past.

"That's...neat. It's a cool trait ta have Frostbite."

Jack looked up through his snowy bangs and gave the smile that made everyone's heart melt despite the cold radiating off the boy. It was an 'aww shucks' kind of smile, like Jack was trying to be humble and about to clasp his hands in front of him and twist one leg back and forth on the ball of his foot like children did in the old cartoons.

But Jack just did his sheepish grin and Bunny smiled back at him.

"Thanks, fluffball."

"Anytime Frostbite."

They looked away awkwardly before returning to their routine with Bunnymund sitting back on the chair, eyes closed, listening to Jack being Jack.

Pitter-patter.

Sizzle.

Squeak.

Crunch.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Sandy will come out to do his job at 8 p.m., but, for some reason, he will not begin giving dreams until 9 p.m.**


	14. Baby

**Title: **Baby

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **all the guardians, lots of Tooth

**Genre: **Family/Friendship

**Summary: **Jack was the last. Jack would always be the last. MiM told them so.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **381

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **287

* * *

It had been a few days after Jack confessed his singular knowledge on trouble that Tooth began to ponder his situation. He had been alone for three centuries and it did some damage to him. He was attention _starved_. Tooth began to notice how long he held on to her hugs after Sandy proposed his belief for Jack's enjoyment of physical contact. It had been such a long time since someone could touch him, such a long time to be without another person.

There were only so many legends of the world, it was their job to help one another.

And for 300 years, Jack was left out of that.

It pained her to think of all the years Jack had needed someone to comfort him, love him, guide him. Jack was a 300-year-old teen, but every time Tooth thought of him, he was a helpless little boy.

The thought that Jack was with them now and was getting the care he so desperately craved was a small comfort, but if they had assumed Jack was alright for so long - without ever even checking on the boy - who else were they just assuming was alright?

She had to know; _they_ had to help the others.

* * *

"Do you think there are other like him? Jack, I mean," asked Tooth as they crowded around North's office. She felt bad about having secret meetings behind the boy's back because it seemed as if they were treating him as if he weren't a guardian anymore, but none of them knew how sensitive he was over the subject of his past, "other spirits who are wondering all alone, the newer spirits who don't have anyone like Jack?"

"Ya mean like the spirits who are still tryin' ta be seen?"

"Yes...we should help them. We should learn from our mistake with Jack."

"I hear nothing of misfortunate spirits!"

"But we didn't hear anything about what Jack went through either until just recently, North, we should help those who are in his place now," the fairy flitted back and forth above their heads, her worry not allowing her to be still.

They were all silent for a moments time, processing what Tooth had said.

"We know eve'y spirit, and I think all o' 'em are known by tha children."

"Well what about new ones? Jack is the last spirit to be created by MiM, we must find a way to track down the new ones once they're made!"

_Crash._

Three pairs of eyes fell on Sanderson Mansnoozie, who's arm was still outstretched from dropping a snow globe to the floor which shattered on impact. He had a light scowl on his face, as if he'd been trying for a while now to get the attention of the others.

He exhaled and as the air left his lungs, so did the frown from his face. He waved his hands above his head and formed an image of a clock, hands rapidly turning in reverse.

"A long time ago..." North narrated with his booming voice for the sandman.

Next was a picture of Sandy himself, looking like a mini-replica since it was made of the same sand as the dream man who created it, sitting cross-legged and gazing widely up to a huge, round object with craters and bumps.

"Man in moon told Sandy..."

The mini-Sandy and moon disappeared to form the faces of all five guardians then some stray symbols off to the side like a four-leaf clover, a heart with an arrow through it, a ground hog peering up from a hole.

"That all legends..."

Sandy finished it off with an infinity sign above all the faces and pictures.

"Are forever..."

"We already _know_ we're immortal Sandy!"

Sandy pressed his fingers to his lips to tell the fairy he wasn't done. He hesitated; this part would be tricky. After thinking of how to go about it, the infinity sign morphed into a large check, one children would see on homework or adults would use to check things off on a list; he hoped his friends would understand the message.

"We're...all doing a good job?"

Sandy shook his head at Tooth, then they all fell silent trying to read the pictures for their true meaning.

The sandman sighed and furrowed his brows in deep thought. His eyes lit up with a new tactic. The check faded into large, sandy numbers with a percent sign after them: 100%

"Tha's it o' us? Legends are a-hund'ed pe'cent done?"

Sandy face split into a grin and he let out a silent cheer for Bunnymund's guess as the images all faded away.

"I'm lost, what does that have to do with helping the others?" Tooth put her finger to her lips in thought, but Sandy could see she wasn't going to understand, so he threw more sand dust above him.

It started off with a smiling Jack's face, eyes wide with joy, and an equals sign appeared to the left of the winter spirit and the equation ended from a small bundle of blankets with a young face peeking out: a baby.

"Jack...will always be the youngest legend then?"

Sandy nodded in confirmation.

"So we don't have to worry about anymore legends feeling abandoned and lost?"

Sandy nodded again.

"Oh...well that's a good thing. So we only have to worry about Jack," she giggled, "we only have to worry about the baby of the family."

* * *

**RotG fact: Bunnymund was originally designed to wear a green robe through the entire movie.**


	15. Habit

**Title:** Habit

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **Bunnymund

**Genre: **Friendship/Humor

**Summary: **He wasn't sure how much more of the noise he could take.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **403

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **316

* * *

He was an animal, a bunny to be exact, but an animal nonetheless.

And animals had super-sonic hearing.

He could feel the pounding of the mini-fairies wings in his ears, the the rumble of North's stomach, sometimes he even imagined he could hear Sandy blink.

But he knew he definitely heard every soft _click_.

It didn't make much sense; he always thought those would stop growing like their hair, fur, feathers etc. But no rule seemed to ever apply to Jack Frost.

It wasn't just once or twice either, it was _every time he saw the winter spirit_! He wasn't sure if Jack was even aware he was doing it since the boy did it often enough for it to become sub-conscious, but the pooka was more than aware of it during each visit he made.

The other guardians had no idea; they could see it, but he doubted the image had been processed in their minds. He wouldn't have committed it to memory either if it wasn't for each obnoxious and driving-him-to-the-brink-of-insanity _snap_.

The kid was doing it right now, slouched in his seat as North spoke of things they needed to be on the look-out for in the children. The topic was important - it really was - but he couldn't focus with that noise!

"Frostbite," he whispered in his thick Australian accent and the boy peered over at him, one dark brow arched in question and thumb still between pale lips, "if ya don' stop bitin' ya nails, even _ya_ be able to conjure 'nough ice to heal what I'm 'bout ta do ta ya."_  
_

The other brow raised in shock, perhaps amusement, to join the first and a smirk curved around the thumb, lips curling back to reveal teeth as they opened slowly and came back down on the nail, already uncomfortably short, breaking another piece off.

_Crack_.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Jack actually enjoys the beach (but only when he freezes the waves).**


	16. Baker

**Title: **Baker

**Rating: **K

**Characters (besides Jack): **North

**Genre: **Humor

**Summary: **It smelled of something gone foul, something messed up. It smelled of Jack Frost

**Followers (as of this chapter): **419

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **321

* * *

It all of his days of existing, North had never heard the smoke detector gone off. He didn't know what it was at first, some high-pitched screechy noise that was more foreign than his accent, but he was interested. Nothing in his workshop existed without his knowledge. Except for the noise of course.

He stepped out of his office and smelt something foul. Something that had tried to be good, but ended up just...being awful. North silently compared it to one of Sandy's dreams that Pitch had manipulated: starting off as something wonderful and magical, but ending up as something that couldn't even be on the naughty list.

The smell was smoke and it was _bad_.

Elves scurried in every which way, yetis seemed unfazed. As if they knew the noise would appear. They simply pointed North in the direction of the smoke and went back to work.

He followed the furry fingers and went down the hall into the kitchen where everything - _everything_ - was a mess.

Some sort of pale blobs covered the walls, floor and ceiling (yes, ceiling!), cracked eggs lay on counter spilling their insides on to the top, every item was covered in a thin layer of flour. Softer sounds were in the background of items he didn't know (so much for nothing existing without his knowledge...) that were some sort of cooking appliances, the fridge door was open wide and there small spills of oil and water on the floor. The smoke wafted up and covered the dough on the ceiling, North watching the train of it with his eyes and saw the grey, heavy fog escaping from the oven where the smell was radiating from.

And in the middle of it all, Jack Frost laid sprawled out on the floor, looking as though he didn't know where he was. His eyes focused on North, dazed and confused, and sat up. The boy uttered a single phrase before collapsing onto his back once more:

"Baking's not my thing."

* * *

**RotG fact: Jack's sister was created to bare many similarities with other characters Jack felt protective for, such as having the same eye and hair color as Jamie and having a small birthmark beneath her right eye like Baby Tooth**


	17. Cute

**Title: ** Cute

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **Tooth

**Genre: **Family

**Summary:** Jack was so incredibly cute, so stinking adorable, that she couldn't even be mad at her workers for the obsession with him.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **440

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 338

* * *

Sometimes she would just lay there and pet his head. They'd been spending much more time together since...well, everything. Since Pitch, since he called her mom, since she found out about his crave for a family. The time they spent side by side had taken a lot of her time up, but Tooth didn't mind it. Not one bit.

Jack's head was resting in her lap as she stroked his snowy white hair. He was drifting in and out of sleep, stretching and then relaxing back into unconsciousness and she whispered orders to her fairies (which was quite difficult since they all swooned once they saw Jack curled up on his side). He had been working extra hard that past week all over; apparently it was 'exam week' in many countries and Jack did his best to give the kids extra time to catch up on material once he witnessed Jamie panicking over the tests several days prior. All the snow storms and flying to and fro had taken its toll and Jack had done nothing short of collapsing once he returned to the workshop in a state of exhaustion.

Tooth was watching his face, void of any emotion in his dreamless sleep. Jack was so incredibly cute, so stinking adorable, that she couldn't even be mad at her workers for the obsession with him.

The milk-white bangs - messy from her caresses - covered his forehead and ended at his eyebrows, oddly darker than his shaggy hair. She pet against the hair of the thin brows, ruffling them slightly, and the hair above the closed eyes lead to a small, delicately curved button nose that she poked softly, ignoring how the heat drained from her fingertips at the contact.

Beneath the nose laid two lips, so pale it was difficult to tell where they began and skin of his face ended. Tooth traced her fingers over the appendages and the mouth quivered from the soft, ticklish sensation and a pink tongue ran over them in his sleep, like the wetness would rid the lips of the itch her fingers had caused.

She caught a glimpse of his teeth, so perfectly white and straight, Tooth knew that Jack is the only thing in the world who may have teeth as nice as hers, but then the lips close once more and her eyes continue to travel down.

The face ended with a rounded chin where just a few hairs of stubble poked against her palm and she smiles; Jack was just a boy, a baby of an incredibly large group of beings, but had the stiff hairs of manhood forming on his face.

The fairy was content just watching him sleep, just reveling in the charming face that Jack held, just thinking about how lucky she is that Jack will never grow and lose the special appearance that made her love him a tiny bit more.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Jack's irises are in the shape of snowflakes (possible idea for a chapter later...?).**


	18. Fangirls

**Title: **Fangirls

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **Tooth

**Genre: **Friendship/Family/Humor?

**Summary: **He never once shooed them away.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **466

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **357

* * *

The proddings at his mouth.

The small heads peeking in at his teeth far too many times.

The little hands tugging at his white hair.

The squeals at his smile.

The swooning.

The gushing.

The awing.

Jack didn't seem to mind it at all. At times, he even seemed to encourage it.

Some had even fainted when he laughed at their desperation for his attention and he shot his hand out to catch them. He cupped his hands around the three fairies softly before setting them to the ground. Then the other teeth-collectors saw and feigned unconsciousness, dropping in an instant just at the possibility to be held by his icy hands, but they never hitting the ground.

Jack caught every single one of them.

They all adored him like silly pre-teen girls with some famous idol and Jack just let them have all they could get of him.

Sometimes Tooth was frustrated with her little workers, but she never blamed them for being so infatuated with the winter spirit. After all she had learnt and seen from Jack, she knew he was as good as they come and even felt the occasional pride that her girls had fallen for such a good boy. She was still upset with them, they did have a job after all.

So she'd swoop over to say something, to scold them, but Jack would be in the middle of them all, mouth wide open for them to poke at his teeth and little fairies zipping around him. Some perched on his head, some nuzzling into the pocket of his hoodie, but only Baby Tooth stood sturdy on his shoulders, claiming to all the others that Jack was her first._  
_

And Jack would smile through it all, ignoring the sharp pokes the beaks gave and holding out a finger for a lucky fairy to claim.

Then Tooth would scowl at the ground; she was not able to cut her adopted son from the attention he so craved and decided she could wait just a few more minutes to break her workers away from the object of their affection.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Jack knows parkour and martial arts.**


	19. Head Over Heels

**Title: **Head Over Heels

**Rating: **T

**Characters (besides Jack): **all the guardians

**Genre: **Romance

**Summary: **Jack Frost was in love with Bunnymund and everyone knew it.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **572

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **438

_THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND. - __THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND. - __THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND. - __THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND. - __THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND. - __THIS IS JACK/BUNNYMUND._

* * *

North, being the guardian of wonder, noticed the thoughtful looks. Sandy, being oh-so observant, noticed the blushes. Tooth, being fiercely protective of the winter spirit, noticed the change in demeanor. And they all had come to the same conclusion:

Jack Frost was head over heels, undeniably, uncontrollably, indefinitely in love with E. Aster Bunnymund.

Looking through past events, it was almost embarrassing to say they never noticed it sooner.

The blizzard of 1868, meant to impress and catch the attention of the older guardian on the special holiday (not the smartest idea, but teenagers aren't known for their brilliant plans); the heart-broken look as Jack tumbled out of a bag at the North Pole, eyes wide with grief at a long-time crush appearing only to be snatched away from the opportunity, then the nearly-tearful look of relief as he found the pooka leaning against a wall; Jack following Bunny to every house with desperate attempts at conversation during their tooth hunt; the completely _broken_ look on the winter spirit's face when Bunny said that they should never have trusted Jack, as if his expression was mimicking his shattered heart.

The ride on the sleigh to Tooth's palace was when Sandy saw it first. Bunnymund's groans of stomach flip-flops, his claws digging into the wood, eyes wide with sickness and then Jack's encouraging words from the back "Hey Bunny, check out this vi-!" The sentence was cut short after Jack flew off the sleigh, supposedly carried off by the wind with a shout of shock and Bunnymund's cry of terror for the young one. When the pooka looked over the edge to find the winter spirit on the bottom raft, Sandy heard the emotion, the _excitement_ beneath Jack's teasing.

"_Aww, you _do_ care_."

Tooth remembered Jack's face, crestfallen, heartbreaking, no light in his eyes face, when they clambered out of the sleigh the night they fought Pitch and Jack couldn't find Bunnymund in their weak group. He asked where the pooka was with trembling lips and an unsure voice, as if he didn't know if he could handle the answer. North had proclaimed that Easter hit Bunny the hardest and Tooth watched as Jack's legs shook violently and caved in; he leaned on his staff for support and he clenched his teeth as his whole body shivered and his bottom lip became the object of painful biting. Then Bunny - as an actual bunny, short and fluffy and _adorable_ - hopped out of the sleigh with eyes wide in fear and vulnerability. Jack's _everything_ changed at the sight, his face, his posture, his wobbling, all faded into a boy filled with hope and relief so quickly that Tooth must have missed the transition when she blinked.

Jack had thought that they - that _he -_ had actually lost Bunnymund.

It was not until the day after they defeated Pitch that North, the last one to notice the affection the winter spirit held for the pooka (though he denies his blindness to the love, claiming he saw it from the beginning), realized something was different about Jack when Bunnymund was around. The group of five had been relaxing in the 'living room' of the workshop, exhausted and shaken from the events of the days just passed. Sandy floating to a small chair by a gentle flame in the fireplace, Tooth collapsing into a cushioned seat beside the golden man and North in the largest chair on the other side of her. Jack sat furthest away from the fire on a couch by the door, arms crossed and head dropping down to his chest in sleep before snapping back up. Bunnymund stumbled in last, mouth wide in a yawn, before crashing onto the couch with Jack. The winter spirit's head stayed straight up after that, looking everywhere but at the rabbit laying beside him. North peered at Jack cautiously and prepared to ask what was wrong before a _snap_ caught his attention. He looked to his right to see Tooth with one hand up in the air, fingers pressed tightly together in case she needed to snap for his attention again, and Sandy behind her with a finger pressed to his lips._  
_

Sandy pointed to the pair and North followed the finger to where Jack sat rigidly on the couch and an unconscious Bunnymund laid his head in the winter spirit's lap. Jack sat unmoving for a few moments, then reached out to pet the fur of the pooka between the ears which were flattened back in relaxation. Jack bit his lip in what appeared to be nervousness and, still stroking the fur, leaned his head back, allowing North to get a good view of the violet color on the boy's face.

Jack was blushing.

None of them knew why or how it happened exactly, but it was rare to understand love, even your own. Jack deserved to be happy, as did Bunnymund and with Jack's attempts, it was clear he would do whatever it took to please the guardian of hope.

For the most part, they didn't interfere with the non-existent relationship, silently cheering Jack on from their peripheral vision in awkward situations. Bunnymund seemed to be oblivious to the feelings Jack held for him, mumbling apologies at lingering touches and shaking off Jack's gazes, Bunny seemed to never notice a thing, but Jack's spirits and hopeful smile never faltered with the other three giving him winks and whispering hints ("_You know sweet tooth, Bunny just _loves_ the smell of carrots_." "_Ay, Jack, Aster needs company in Warren, you go visit him, ya?_") or conjuring images (like the one of Bunnymund going crazy when he was scratched behind the ears). Tooth, North and Sandy gave Jack all the encouragement he needed to try again and again to express his feeling for the pooka._  
_

After all, it was rare for spirits to fall in love.

* * *

**RotG fact: Pitch's lair being accessed by a hole beneath a broken bed frame is a reference to the Boogeyman hiding under your bed.**


	20. Flaming Hot

**Title: **Flaming Hot

**Rating:** K

**Characters (besides Jack): **Tooth and Bunny

**Genre: **Humor

**Summary: **...Aren't those bad for his health?

**Followers (as of this chapter): **575

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **442

* * *

Jack Frost licks his reddened fingers clean until they return to their original white. He grins at the taste and runs his tongue over his lips, revealing teeth that are also tinted red. He reaches into the pocket of his over sized hoodie for another bag and retrieves the orange bag between two fingers. The winter spirit smiles devilishly before pulling open the top and digging into his...well, it's hard to say what number he's on.

"That's his...fourteenth?" Tooth whispers, the sentence quipping up at the end to become a question.

"I don' bloody know, I los' count 'while 'go. How many thin's can tha hoodie fit?" Bunnymund asked incrediously in a hushed tone.

He and the fairy sit huddled around the corner, peering at Jack and his strange choice of snack. They are both spying on the young guardian, but since Jack isn't doing anything that was actually _bad_, they both silently agree that they were only _observing_...without permission or awareness from the observe-ee.

"Too many, much, _much_ too many."

"At least i's not somethin' ta 'hur' his precious teeth'," Bunny mocks.

He had heard the _crunch_es first (with the superhearing of being an animal); it was nothing alarming, but Bunnymund was curious. After all, curiosity killed the rabbit. So he followed the noise to where Jack lazily reclined in a poofy chair, clearly overstuffed with its bulging sides, with the small, brightly colored bag tipped upside down into his mouth, not daring to waste a beloved crumb.

"Oh, hush! I'm not worried about his teeth this time," Tooth scolds softly. "I'm worried about _him_."_  
_

"Why? I've nevah even _seen_ those, the'e prob'ly somethin' new, maybah i's just false adve'tisin'."

"_You_'re the one who called me over here!"

Jack had been so absorbed in ripping open another bag that he hadn't even noticed his friend enter the room. Bunny stayed silent, wanting to see how long he could go without his presence being detected. He peered closely at the bag (which Jack had difficulty opening with his wet fingers) and saw the name of the snack before his eyes widened in shock and he scurried back around the corner, watching with interest and concern before Tooth found him.

"Well excuse me fer ovah-reactin' when a winta spirit eats somethin' like that!"

"My point exactly! He shouldn't be eating that!"

The fairy almost had time to ask him what he was doing, but Bunnymund's sharp hearing caught the noise of her opening his mouth and spun around on his paws with a claw to his lips. Bunny gestured to around the corner and Tooth fluttered higher above him to peer around the corner and see what was so interesting only to find Jack in the same position Bunnymund found him.

"Whada we do?"

"I...I don't know. He wouldn't be eating them if they were hurting him, but they...those can't be good for his health."

Tooth had tried to ask what the big deal was, dropping down to her companion, but Bunny was answering the question before she worded it. He had whispered to her to read the name of the bag, to read it _carefully_ on the odd chance that he had read it wrong. So Tooth did what she was told and fluttered above Bunnymund once more and read the name of the snack and she gasped. _That_ could explain why Bunny was acting so funny.

"Afta wha' 'appened in tha Warren, ya'd think he woul'nt want none o' tha."

"I know, I know. But he obviously _likes_ them, so...

"Hey guys."

Tooth shrieks in surprise, looking up from Bunnymund (who jumps up with his boomerangs raised) to see Jack leaning against his staff, sucking on a reddened thumb, looking at them with his head tilted to the side in a childlike manner.

"Jack! Hi, sweet tooth!" She chirps nervously. They hadn't been doing anything _wrong_ but being caught in this situation of watching Jack was still suspicious.

"Ummm, how long have you two been watching me?" His tone is not one of defense or accusations, but full of pure inquisitiveness.

"We were umm, we were just uhh, um..." The speed of her wings flapping and eyes darting becomes faster with her stuttering.

"Do ya know wha' ya were eatin' Frostbite?"

"Yes!" Jack's head straightens in excitement and he grins as his hand reaches into his pocket once more for a bag.

"Jamie got me hooked on these, he said it wasn't a good idea for me to have them, but they're _delicious_! They're called Flaming Hot Cheetos, wanna try one?"

* * *

**RotG Fact: In the movie, Tooth claims "We were all someone before we were chosen," but according to the books, neither she, Bunnymund, Sandy or North experience death before becoming legends (meaning they were never human or they somehow became legends while human).**


	21. Weakness

**Title: **Weakness

**Rating:** M

**Characters (besides Jack): **all of the guardians

**Genre: **Hurt/Comfort

**Summary:** She wishes for nothing more than to snatch the question out of the air and shove it back in her brain where it belongs with the rest of her thoughts that shouldn't be voiced.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **591

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **452

_Set shortly after the Scarring arc_

* * *

Tooth isn't sure what compelled her to ask the question. It ruined everything. They were having a good time, they were goofing off, they were playing, they were relaxed because Jack was getting better and finally opening up more because _he wanted to_, not because they were asking him and pressuring him. She doesn't know why the question had to come out then and she's rather ashamed of ruining their good time.

"Are those from your father?"

Jack looks away from Bunnymund and peers up at her with a brow raised in confusion. He has rolled his sleeves up for his battle against the guardian of hope for their arm wrestling tournament and Tooth has seen something that summoned the dreadful question to her lips.

Jack follows her gaze to his forearm where straight lines, some parallel to each other, some slanted, marked the white skin as unsightly blemishes. Tooth is painfully aware of how silent the room has become and she wishes for nothing more than to snatch the question out of the air and shove it back in her brain where it belongs with the rest of her thoughts that shouldn't be voiced.

But the question is already out there, floating around and swirling among every head so it can introduce awkwardness to them all.

Jack bites his lip and Tooth commits that action to memory: he only does that when he's trying to avoid something. He slowly rolls down the sleeves of his hoodie once more and avoids everyone's gaze.

"I'm so sorry sweet tooth!" She nearly shouts. "I don't know where that came from! That was so rude of me, I can't believe I asked that without thinking! It's not right for me to but into your past or for me to ask questions like that, I'm so so _so_ sorry Jack!" Her embarrassment and panic run together until she's apologizing so fast, none of them can understand her.

"It's okay Tooth," Jack consoles with a lopsided grin that she can't see in his eyes and it makes her stop her rambling. "I don't mind answering it." His voice is so soft that she worries it might disappear forever if she doesn't concentrate on it.

Jack studies the other three as he speaks. Bunny's wearing a rare look of confusion and his eyes flicker between Jack and Tooth; North is solemnly quiet, but Jack doesn't think there's much of a need to say anything; Sandy smiles encouragement at him and the curve of the lips is so different from the other's reactions. They are all sad, they are all bracing themselves for the worst, but Sandy, the conundrum man, floats there, happy that Jack is opening up, genuinely curious as to what Jack is opening up to this time, and smiles which Jack finds much-needed strength in. He knows telling this story will not be much fun.

"They're from me actually."

He doesn't have to look up to tell which noise is whose: Tooth's gasp is first, soft and feminine. North's confused sound of 'huh' follows with Bunnymund's sigh of grief last. Sandy doesn't seem to have a reaction, just a perplexed look, as if he wants to hear the story.

"It was hard - _really_ hard - being alone for so long and just having nothing, _nobody_, to live for. I couldn't find out why I existed, why I was here. All I could do was create storms that ended up hurting people and freeze people, but that was it and it wasn't a very good life."

He can hear a flapping noise growing louder and he knows Tooth is fluttering down to him. She places her arms around him and Jack leans into the embrace, ignoring how her feathers scratch the back of his neck. She's real and she's here now. As long as she's by him, they're all by him, he knows he's safe and he can remind himself that this is just reminiscing, this isn't real and he's not scared and crying, he's surrounded by them and Jack continues with Tooth's hug protecting him from his own words.

"And I guess one day everything became too much and I just had a moment of weakness and I just sort of...broke. And I was mad at the world for not being able to acknowledge me and at the moon for never answering anything and I just felt so, so empty. I didn't like how I felt, but I'd been feeling that way for so long and it seemed like all the days of being ignored were forced into that moment and I'm. Not. Proud." He emphasizes the last words. If he's going to tell them this, he needs them to know that he's _ashamed_ of what happened, of what he did.

North's heavy footsteps are much more prominent that Tooth's wings, so Jack is aware when North plops down beside him. He does not touch Jack, no hugs, no pats, just a close proximity that Jack is thankful for. North is leaving the decision for contact up to him and the consideration makes Jack grab for a thick hand. North's palm swallows up his own pale hand so drastically that, not for the first time, Jack feels as small as he really is. He settles for holding a chubby finger that his fingers can barely wrap around, squeezing it to relieve some of the pressure in his stomach.

"I knew what I wanted to do, so I just kept flying 'til I found one of those old barber shops that was closed for the night and I went inside and I - I wasn't thinking clearly at all, I was so emotional - and I got a hold of one of those straight razors and...I did things I'm not proud of."

The last to huddle over is Bunnymund, who just climbs up on the table used for the tournament which - taken so seriously minutes before - seems like a pointless idea now. He sits in front of Jack up on his haunches and puts a paw over Jack's hand, completely covering the small body part as North did. Jack smiles down, eyes never leaving his lap, and pulls his hand out from beneath the paw to stroke the soft fur that he has become so accustomed to when he's shaken. The gentle pelt steadies his nerves and Jack inhales deeply before continuing.

"I thought I would die and I _hoped_ I would die, but I didn't and that just made me so much more upset. The fact that I couldn't even decide whether or not to live was...I felt like I had no say in anything, like how I felt wasn't important and it was horrible. And I didn't have anyone to talk to or to cry to, no one was there to tell me everything would be okay, so I just kept doing it until I _felt_ okay, but I didn't ever feel okay, so I just kept doing it." Jack bites his lower lip again to force the tears back and lets out a noise similar to a laugh. "I don't even know how long I kept that stupid razor with me."

That's the end of the story and Jack isn't sure what to expect, but he would gladly except any other reaction than this silence. It's eerie and there aren't even elves in the room to break the pattern of nothing.

"Give an approximation."

Jack looks up from his lap for the first time in what could be described as hours in his head and looks at Tooth in confusion.

"An approximation of how long you had it. The razor. Of how long you did that," her voice is so fragile that Jack needs to remind himself that he is the child, not she.

"The razor? Whew, it must've been around...110 years? Those things last pretty long if you take care of them. And I never cared when it started to rust, it didn't make much of a difference to me," Jack mumbles the last part in embarrassment of his weak stage.

"How long did ya keep et up fer?"

Jack hesitates, if they haven't freaked out yet, this is the part where they do. But he's told them this much, he's come this far, he decided they should know.

"Until the day I was initiated to become a guardian."

Tooth's arms never left his shoulders, but her grip tightens so quickly that the hug feels all new again. North's hand squeezes his small one tightly and Jack ignores the slight pain and instead rejoices in the comforting touch. He can feel Bunnymund tense up beneath the thick fur and Sandy drifts even closer to Jack. The winter spirit smiles in spite of the situation; it seems that his fellow guardians thought they could squeeze the bad memories out of him if they tried hard enough and the idea was funny to him.

"Don't worry too much, _please_ don't worry about," he begs because he doesn't need them to fuss over him and be distracted from their respected jobs and duties and if they did, he may close up on them again and he doesn't want that. He likes telling them things and he likes that they all listen, but he can't do it if it means they'll all sacrifice their work in their distraught over him. "The thing with Pitch kept me so busy for days and then Jamie could see me and I was believed in and you guys were there and I didn't feel so alone anymore and all of a sudden, I just didn't feel like I had to do that anymore. I haven't done it since, I promise."

Slowly, they all go back to normal. Bunny relaxes again and Jack goes back to petting his paw, Sandy floats back a bit to give him some space, North lets go of his hand (which is now dully throbbing) and Tooth returns to a gentle hug and even reaches up to stroke his hair.

Jack relaxes and listens to the silence, no longer awkward or deathly still. It's calm and soft and he catches himself dozing off in their embraces. That's good. It means he's relaxing around them, he's letting his guard down around them (willingly this time), he's trusting them to...to... He's not even sure what, but he's trusting them nonetheless. But there is a more important matter than sleep at hand right now.

"Well Cottontail," he shrugs off Tooth and pulls his hands away from North and Bunny, "I believe we were all about to watch me destroy you, correct?"

The pooka looks at him in a confused manner, unsure of where the sudden change in demeanor came from, but catches on and hops off the table, both arms up with a challenging smirk behind them.

"Ya may be ambiwhoseewhatsee, but I'm su' I can beacha with both."

Jack accepts the quest and, grinning with his expected victory, raises both arms to the table and grasps Bunnymund's paws simultaneously.

After rolling up his sleeves of course.

* * *

**RotG Fact: The movie is made up of 130,000+ computer generated frames.**


	22. Ice Head

**Title: **Ice Head

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **all of the guardians

**Genre: **Humor/Friendship

**Summary:** Some people hyperventilate, some people even fainted, but Jack wasn't like some people.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **603

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **461

**Idea From: **TheJennyFromIceland

* * *

Jack did not expect to be found last; his hiding spot wasn't very good at all (just behind a door in one of the rooms used for storage), but he assumed North, Tooth and Bunny had all picked closer hiding spots as to where Sandy was counting. He could hear them earlier with their heavy footsteps (since North was found first) and conversations of where he might be (Tooth and Bunny thought they knew him well enough to immediately know where he was hiding) and making sure someone looked here and there, but the voices stopped after time and Jack began to think that they went in the complete opposite direction. He had been standing there for a while, the better half of the hour and he hadn't heard so much as a noise from them in more minutes than he was willing to count. Jack was beginning to think they would never find him, or even give up, and he wouldn't let that happen and they couldn't give up if he went out to find them himself and say he had just got bored waiting.

So that's what he did. He side stepped behind the door to come in front of the entrance to the room and let out a strangled noise that the others would later describe as a sream.

"AHHH!"

The winter spirit did not expect to come face to face with the other four guardians just outside the room and a cry of surprise was the result of the unexpectedness. He wasn't going to _admit_ it, but seeing them there had kind of scared the winter spirit.

Jack jumped backwards from them, his mind still in shock of their sudden appearance, and lost his balance from the movement and landed on his rear where something solid _clink_ed against his head.

"Ow!" He yelled out, but he wasn't sure if he's referring to landing on his bum or to whatever hit him in the head, but it didn't matter.

"Nice goin' Frostbite." Jack peered up to see Aster with a smug smile, leaning against the doorway with Sandy beside him and North and Tooth behind them, peeking in curiously. Jack glared at the furry grin wishing he could freeze it off Bunny's face.

But he didn't; he just picked himself up from the ground. Sandy had his hands up in the air by the image above his head: balloons, flags waving, little fireworks. A celebration of some sort.

The golden man caught Bunnymund's attention too, who narrated the scene of sand: "We found ya."

Jack scowled at the pooka and his obviousness, but walked towards the group anyway, shaking his head lightly. Then the sensation of being hit in the head with a dozen tiny objects was back and Jack stopped to put a hand to his head.

"Sweet tooth?" A feminine voice chirped and Jack didn't have to look up to tell Tooth was hoovering beside him. He lowered his hand to look up at her and assure her not to worry, but her gasp cut him off.

"Tooth? What is wrong?" North called out, pushing Sandy and Bunny gently aside.

Jack tentatively took a step back. Gasping? Something's wrong? He was suddenly regretful for suggesting to play hide-'n-seek.

"Your - your hair!" Tooth forced out in an astonished tone.

"Yes, hair, I have some. Is something wrong with it?" Jack felt bad for having such a smart Alec reply with his supposed mother, but the fairy didn't seem to notice. North stepped closer to him also and bent down to study the boy, brows furrowed in thought and eyes unsure of the sight before them.

"Jack...you - you froze hair!" The bulging man declared and Jack was the one to take on the expression of confusion.

"What? What're you talking about?"

"Jack, your hair is frozen!" Tooth squealed, reaching out to touch the top of his head.

"Oi! We musta scared ya pretty bad fer ya ta freeze yaself!" Bunny laughed and Jack sent more glares his way. He reached up to feel his hair but didn't find it; instead, his fingers traced thick, solid ice that seemed a little warm to his own skin. Jack's eyes widened. He froze his own hair!

"I didn't know I could do that! Did you know I could do that? I didn't know I could do that." It wasn't the most intelligent bundle of words to leave his mouth, but _he froze his own hair_! Without meaning to! There were lots of times he froze stuff without meaning to (several elves remember him only because he had turned them into elfsicles when he tried to break into the workshop as a spirit with no control over his abilities), but never himself!

Tooth shot a few dirty looks Bunny's way, through he never noticed through his laughter, and grabbed Jack's arm lightly. "C'mon sweet tooth, we'll set you just close enough to the fire to melt that out, okay?"

Jack smiled up at her through his now icy-white hair and allowed her to lead him out of the room with - he assumed - North and Sandy following. He didn't have to assume anything about Bunny when the pooka's teases could be heard from the other side of the workshop.

"Oi, Frostbite! If I say 'Boo!', do ya tu'n inta an icebe'g?"

* * *

**RotG Fact: Jamie's mom wears glasses (sorry that's not very exciting, I thought it was interesting though...)**


	23. Failed

**Title: **Failed

**Rating: **T

**Characters (besides Jack): **North

**Genre: **Angst/Dark

**Summary: **They failed the boy too many times.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 620

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 477

* * *

It was their duty, their _obligation_, to protect the children of the world. Whether it was from Pitch or from the silly fears of childhood or to encourage wonder and hope and dreams, they were called to hide the little ones from darkness as long as they were believed in. The human children, no relation to, temporary life forms, people who would soon forget and deny the existence of him and his co-workers, were more important to them than anything. More important than even their own spirit child.

It was nothing less than amazing to North how many times they failed Jack, to fall short of their work when it came to him.

Granted, they were never allowed to personally interfere in a child's life, so the abusive family situation left him clueless as to what they all could have done for the boy, but sometimes they found ways to alert neighbors or the authorities to the poor home lives of children, but they had never known about what Jack was going through. It was his job, _their_ job, to know, to watch out for children, but they had gone over Jack's life without looking carefully enough.

Thus, their ignorance was the first time the guardians failed Jack Frost.

Then as a spirit, new and fresh to the world, they offered no help. When Jack had reached out for their attention - the boy all but pleaded for North's attention with his feeble and repeated attempts to get into the workshop - they offered none. As he created mischief and messes, they offered little guidance, just writing him off as an immature 'newbie'. They allowed him to run around with no idea how to handle his powers, turning a blind eye to whatever the kid got himself into. North was so busy creating millions of toys, and the rest were all much too busy with their own jobs, to keep an eye on this child.

So, their uncaring attitude was the second time the guardians failed Jack Frost.

Being the 'one in charge', North was confronted by other spirits weekly. Some came for the wisdom of the guardians, some came to chat, some came to demand that he set other legends straight and one would think that most of those spirits came out of annoyance from Jack, but not a single one of them mentioned the winter spirit. Ever. At the time, North barely recognized how Jack was left out of every piece of gossip or absent in all the rants any spirit gave about the rest. It seemed as if Jack didn't exist - which was the case for the other legends; most had no idea who the boy was. He was alone and North and the others knew it, but they assumed that's how he wanted it. None of them had ever bothered to check if that was truly the case.

The assumptions of the guardians was the third time they failed Jack Frost.

After realizing how no one seemed to know who the boy was, they were curious to watch him whenever he came into contact with one of them. If he didn't bother the other spirits, if no one else saw him as a threat (or even know of him), maybe the boy wasn't as bad as Aster would complain of. It was rare - extremely rare - for them to see Jack, but that never calmed the heavy heart of the Russian for missing the teen's self-mutilation. Jack had no visible scars or cuts at any time with his over-sized hoodie, he always grinned with mischief, but North believed that they should have seen it no matter what.

Alas, their blindness was the fourth time the guardians failed Jack Frost.

Easter had been ruined by Pitch, never by Jack, but they took one look at the teeth in his hand and looked at the boy as the traitor they thought he was. They had given Jack no time to explain or even gather his thoughts. They knew the bare minimum of what had happened but they watched Jack with accusing eyes and tight lips.

Making their lack of trust the fifth time they failed Jack.

Through everything, years of abuse and being ignored and alone and hurting and mistrusted, Jack still loved them. Jack still craved their affection, their approval. He ran to them like an eager puppy, so aching to be loved by them. North was almost positive Jack would sit on command. It was a miracle that instead of turning bitter and angry, Jack was sweet and desperate for any sign of kindness like his joy that Tooth saw him as her son or his excitement that Bunny was more than happy to wrestle around with him or his relief that Sandy listened to all of his ramblings or his gratitude when North had offered him a home in the workshop. It didn't make sense to St. Nick that Jack wanted them as his family and wanted them to care for him. It wasn't logical that Jack _needed_ them - the guardians of all people! - to love him.

North thought that his inability to understand the boy would be the sixth time he failed Jack Frost.

* * *

**RotG Fact: Pitch's first lair was near the center of the Earth so no light would ever reach him.**


	24. Musically Inclined

**Title:** Musically Inclined

**Rating:** K

**Characters (besides Jack): **Sandy and North (first pair that isn't Tooth and Bunny!)

**Genre: **Friendship/Family

**Summary:** It's no grin that shows his teeth, not a cocky smirk in the middle of a competition, just a smile that is loose on his lips that symbols peace and content and relaxation.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 648

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **497

* * *

After Jack's baking incident and not realizing what the fire alarm was, North did a double check of all the items in his home to make sure he truly was on top of everything. So when Sandy pulls him out of his office and away from the gurgle of the yetis and shouts of the elves with music notes floating around them, North hears the soft twinkle and knows exactly where to go.

It's several turns, slanted hallways that go on for longer than Sandy and North think they should, a hidden door, a twist and retracing their path when they've passed the door to the room that contains the music.

North's first reaction is to kick open the door with swords in his hand, but if someone came into hurt him/the yetis/the elves/the toys/the workshop, who would stop to play the piano before attacking? So he turns the knob and pushes the door open gently to see instruments littering the place; from guitars (electric and acoustic) to a didgeridoo, the room is filled with musical devices with just enough space for someone of normal size to walk through and someone of North's size to force through. However, that someone of (less than) normal size happens to be a white-haired, blue eyed winter spirit at the bench of a grand piano.

Jack doesn't notice them and keeps his fingers on the keys, gliding over each porcelain rectangle with the grace that the old instrument deserves. The simple flick of his wrist to reach higher or lower notes, the light sway of his body to reach keys further away, the soft way his arms move to follow his hands anywhere the piano beckons them, it's all perfect. Neither of the guardians at the door can place the melody that flows in the air, but it's filled with so much wonder that even North, the guardian of wonder itself, is mesmerized. The child could not sing. At all. Ever. But the lack of vocal talent was more than made up with the heart-stopping beauty he played with.

A gentle smile is on the boy's face that Sandy and North have never seen before. It's no grin that shows his teeth, not a cocky smirk in the middle of a competition, just a smile that is loose on his lips that symbols peace and content and relaxation. Jack's eyes close, he's so into his masterpiece that he still has not acknowledged them, but North and Sandy are silent as to not break the sound of the piano that the teen creates.

They stand there for quite a while and Jack notices them at some point, but he just smiles at them, glad to see they're enjoying what he's doing, and keeps his focus on the music until he is happy with the ending and turns to face them with a swift bow.

"Enjoying the show?"

Sandy claps for him enthusiastically and North joins in with the thundering boom of his hands.

"Was beautiful Jack! Wonderful!"

Jack grins in pride and steps away from the piano; the instrument practically cries when he leaves and makes his way down the tight aisle that looks so very roomy around his small frame.

"Y'know this is a pretty cool room North, where'd you get all these things?" Jack runs one hand lovingly down a guitar while the other strokes the neck of a violin.

"I have been around for thousand years Jack. I have collection of many things. You like?"

"I _love_." Jack's eyes light up all over again and he bounces excitedly on his feet. "I haven't had a whole lot of time to practice in awhile, I love sneaking off down here!"

"No need to sneak off, this room is yours for keeping!"

"Really?" Jack gives a radiant grin again.

Sandy sends sand before both of their faces to gain attention and he receives it. He throws up some more sand which morphs into Bunnymund, Tooth, North and himself gathered around a piano with Jack at the bench again. The Russian and teen understand the message.

"Only if you play for us now and again," North promises with a wink.

"Deal! I can play anything!"

"Anything?"

"Yeah! Viola, clarinet, french horn, you name it! I've tried a few times at drums but I'm not very good; I would _love_ to get to play a harp, I think that's the only thing I've never played, but piano is my best thing! With kids always talking about Mozart when I was first around, I snuck into some of his concerts - it was so easy - and I got to sit right by him and watch his hands, it was _so cool_! But Beethoven was better in my opinion. I mean Mozart perfected the music of his time, but Beethoven actually _enhanced_ it! And have you ever heard Beethoven's third...?"

Jack's rambling are eventually lost on the other two spirits, but he is so excited by the subject he doesn't notice. His words came out at a speed that Tooth would have trouble keeping up with. North and Sandy look at each other and share a wordless question. None of the guardians were familiar with music. Tooth could sing fair enough and Bunny had some practice with a harmonica and Sandy loved the banjo while North was just couldn't tell a violin from a guitar.

"Jack!" The boy stopped and stared at the guardian of wonder with wide eyes, baffled at being stopped. "When you learn to play all this?"

Jack tilted his head and thought, then smiled. "You pick up interests with no one around you." There's no pain in his eyes or sorrow in his voice, a bit of appreciation for his abandonment in the expression instead, something Sandy and North aren't sure is possible.

"300 years of solitude leaves a lot of time for learning a lot of things."

* * *

**RotG Fact: Baby Tooth has two different colored eyes: blue and purple.**

**New poll on my page about this fic.**


	25. Urges

**Title:** Urges

**Rating: **T/M

**Characters (besides Jack): **all of the guardians

**Genre: **Awkward?

**Summary:** Jack is a teenage boy; teenage boys have urges.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 659

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 512

* * *

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my _goodness_!"

Tooth kept flitting around the room, her embarrassment showing through in her repetition of words and the increasing speed of her flight. She swooped back and forth about the heads of Sandy, Bunny and North, all with reddened faces beneath the sand, fur and facial hair respectively. The male guardians alternated between staring at the floor and hiding his face in his hands/paws. Although they were not as vocal about the situation at the female, they were just as flustered.

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Can you believe we walked _in on that_? Oh my goodness, I can't!" The fairy was so frantic in her hopelessness; how did someone handle a situation like that? Do they ignore it? Talk about it? Pretend it never happened? Stay silent with awkwardness until the memory fades? "Oh my goodness!" She howled in exasperation over the conversation below her.

"I thin' I need mah eyes washed ou'," Bunnymund groaned and threw his head back.

North agreed with him solemnly: "We all need wash eyes out."

"And preferably all of our memories erased."

The four heads turned to Jack whose violet face managed to show that he was much more embarrassed than any of them. He leaned on his staff several feet away from the rest of the group. His adverting eyes made it clear he was too humiliated to enter the room or step any closer to them.

They all stared at the winter spirit until Tooth's sudden return of babbling brought them back. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"Yeah, so uh...let's go ahead and get rid of this elephant in the room." Jack started, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You all walked in on me masturbating. I think we can use this as a good experience to learn to _knock_." The boy's eyes narrowed at Bunnymund.

"Well pa'don me fer thinkin' ya was in trouble," the pooka snapped. "Those soun'ed like noises o' pain, not o' pleasure!"

"Sorry that my noises of pleasure confuse you!" Jack bit back, the violet hue reaching his ears. "It's not like people get attacked in bathrooms or anything!"

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"It's bettah ta be safe than sarry! If I hea' those soun's, I ain't thinkin' 'leave tha bloke alone, he's freein' his willy'!"

"So whatever threat I faced in the _bathroom_ was so deadly that you needed the others," Jack gestured grandly to the other three guardians watching the exchange of conversation, "to help you defend me from the big bad non-existent enemy?"

Bunnymund attempted to sputter out a response (something along the lines of "They were already behind me!", but Jack's last remark threw him off and the winter spirit grins in triumph.

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"Tooth!"

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"Tooth!"

"Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

"Mom?"

"Yes sweet tooth?" The fairy's ranting came to an abrupt halt and she swooped down to Jack's face.

"I'm...I'm really sorry you had to see that," he threw a glare at Bunnymund, "I promise to lock the door next time. I mean, if there's a next time." The violet blush restored to Jack's face much more quickly than he would have liked.

"No lock would have stopped us from coming in sweet tooth," she assured gently with a smile tugging at her lips which Jack returned.

The teen turned to Sandy and North, both of them still blushing beneath their respected masks of sand and hair. "I'm really sorry _somebody_," another glare tossed to Bunny, "brought you guys into see that too. I don't like it when things get this awkward. So...I'm sorry?" Jack finished lamely with a shrug as the violet hue spread down to his neck. There were very few situation as bad at the one he was facing at that moment.

North smiled at the boy and clapped him on the back while Sandy looked up with a grin and gave Jack's legs a hug. The winter spirit laughed lightly, and the noise seemed to chase the awkwardness away.

"You get more privacy Jack. We no listen to Bunny and craziness anymore!"

"Oi! I hear' tha'!"

"Well you saw a lot more than that, so just take North's orders for now, cottontail," Jack called over his shoulder smugly. "And I don't think I'll need uh...any _privacy_. No matter how many precautions we take, I am not doing anything that could result in today happening every again."

* * *

**RotG Fact: Jack was originally going to be voiced by Leonardo di Caprio.**


	26. Ears Over Paws

**Title: **Ears Over Paws

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **North and Bunny

**Genre: **Romance/Friendship

**Summary: **Bunnymund comes to North with a problem; said problem couldn't make North more excited.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **715

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **574

**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS FROSTBUNNY. ****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS FROSTBUNNY. ****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS FROSTBUNNY. ****THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS FROSTBUNNY.**

* * *

"North? Can I...can I talk ta ya abou' some'in'?"

St. Nick tore his gaze away from his work desk to see Aster standing with his head peeking into the office and furrowed his brow; Bunny would barge in most days and say what was on his mind whether North wanted to hear it or not.

"Of course Aster! Come in! Sit down!"

The pooka hopped through the doorway and over to North's desk to stand awkwardly on the other side, refusing to sit and rubbing a paw against his arm. Bunnymund had never acted like that, so unsure and worried, and it left a bad feeling in North's belly.

"Aster? What is wrong?"

Bunny's ears flattened out onto his head and he kept his gaze low. North rose from his chair and walked over to the guardian of wonder to place a thick hand on a furry shoulder and stared at the rabbit until Bunny looked up at him.

"What is wrong, friend? I help with anything." North smiled and tried to console his friend in the worried state but Bunny just sighed and broke the stare.

"I's abou' Jack, mate."

"Jack? What is wrong with Jack? He is okay, yes?" After all they had learnt about Jack, anything that could worry Bunny so much relating to Jack put the Russian on edge.

"Yes!" Bunny quickly assured him, ears raising in alarm only to settle back when his uneasy look returned. "I's _me_ towa'd him."

"I am confused and I do not like it. Why you no make sense Bunny?"

"Because tha's wha' tha bloody, li'l thin' does to me!" Bunny twisted away from North and tugged at his ears. "Eve'ythin' I do, eve'ythin' I say, it all does't make sense 'cause o' wha' _he_ does to me! Nothin' comes out right, I'm all jitte'y, mah stomach's in knots!" Bunnymund began to pace the room, alternating between throwing his arms up in exasperation and gripping his fur.. "I's all cause o' him." Paws landed on his face before sliding down in hopelessness.

"Jack did not hurt you, no?" North was confused at first and he had begun to think that he would never understand Bunny's riddles, but the symptoms started to make themselves more prominent and St. Nick could almost make his diagnosis. But he had to be sure.

"No, o' cou'se not, i's ju-."

"Jack made you sick?"

"No, but I-."

"Jack makes you feel sick?"

"I don' know if _si_-."

"Bunny. Cease yapping. You answer yes or no. Explanation is not needed."

"Fine," the rabbit's nose twitched in annoyance and he drew himself up to his full height, just half a foot shorter than the Russian, and crossed his arms. North smirked; Bunny was beginning to return back to his normal self much faster than expected.

"Jack makes you feel sick?"

"_..._I s'ppose so."

"Bad sick?"

"...No."

"Good sick?"

"...I guess."

"Jack is only person to make you feel this way?"

"Yep."

"I see."

"I don'!"

North clapped a hand on Bunny's shoulder and grinned. It was exactly what he thought it was. "Bunny, bunny, bunny," he shook his head slowly, "you are in love with Jack, no?"

The pooka sputtered and spat out unintelligible words, staring at him with eyes of shock. North simply grinned. He had been right!

Jack had captured the heart of E. Aster Bunnymund.

* * *

******I'm sure you all remember I couldn't update due to a death in the family, but my brother didn't go to the funeral because he was sick with strep throat which I caught Monday :( I had 5 days to raise my grade in Honors Chem and AP Calc so I could opt out (not take) my exams (because you need to be above a certain percent in all classes). **

******70% of you have voted to keep Frostbunny in here, so hoorah! (To the 23 non-shippers who voted that, why do you want to keep Bunny/Jack in here?)**

******Lastly, I am no longer receiving e-mails for new favorites/alerts/reviews. I have FF on my Safe List and have the alerts I want enabled. Can anyone help (_in a PM, not a review_)?**

******Thanks for all the condolences and support guys. You all are awesome.**


	27. 73 lbs

**Title:** 73 lbs.

**Rating: **T

**Characters (besides Jack): **all of the guardians

**Genre: **General?

**Summary: **They knew he was thin, skeletal looking even, but this was a shocker.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 721

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 578

* * *

It took a lot for a jolly man like Nicholas St. North to become unjolly, however one of those things was Pitch Black. More specifically, the fact it had taken him and the guardians _three days_ to defeat him in a battle of five (at one point four) against _one_ person. That was much too long for North to feel secure with the guardians taking on any threat to the children, so he devised a plan to prepare them better: Fit Day.

He announced the plan the day he thought of it and, without any planning or even thinking of how to go about it, dragged a reluctant Tooth who was shouting orders to a few fairies as Jack, Bunny and Sandy followed eagerly behind.

Of the 176 rooms in the workshop, the largest had been dedicated to work-out equipment (all of which North was unsure of when he had ever received) just before the announcement to the other guardians, so as they entered, they stepped aside to allow the yetis, who carried each piece into the room, to leave. North shut the door tightly behind them to keep out the mini fairies that were so desperate to hear the last orders.

"North! Don't you even _know_ that our power comes from being believed in?" Tooth shouted as she kicked her legs and fluttered her wings in an attempt to escape his grasp.

"Of course I know! I know all! But too weak, too slow to stop Pitch in beginning. We change that today!" Once everyone was gathered in the middle of room, a midst lifting weights and running machines, North set Tooth down (much to her relief) and began the a speech he had no intention of giving when he came up with the idea of Fit Day.

"Our duty is to protect zee children of zee world!" North paused and thought; he hadn't put a whole lot of thought into the plan. "We need," the words came slowly, "to be prepared for monsters...and ghouls! It must not take Guardians long to defeat scary things to children! Must be 'on top of it'!" North nodded in satisfaction at his introduction; it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"And how do your propose we 'prepare'?" Jack, leaning casually on his staff as usual peered at North with an eyebrow raised in question.

"We become fit." North said simply. "Is why it's called 'Fit Day' silly boy!"

"North, do ya know wha' fit _means_?"

"Yes, _Bunny_, I know what fit is!" His beard sways as North raises his chin in defiance at the question/insult. "Means fast and strong and kicking behind of boogeymen!"

"So what's your idea to become fit," Tooth ruffled her feathers. He ought to have had a good, _fast_ way; she had work to do!

"We lift weights! We run! We -!"

"Mate, do ya even know _how_ ta run?"

A golden North floated in the midst of them all, bumbling after an elf with a tray of cookies. Jack and Bunny made no attempt to hide their laughter while Tooth covered her mouth to stifle her giggles and North glared at a grinning Sandy.

"Naughty list, Sanderson!"

"How will we even know if we're making progress? Shouldn't we have some sort of test right now so we can compare it to what we can do in a while from now?" Tooth folded her arms and stared at the master of Fit Day.

"A while from now? I thought this was a one-day thing!" Jack proclaimed, pushing himself off his staff to stand straight in an accusing stance.

"Ya gotta do it e'eryday ta get anywhere."

"That's what I'm saying!" Tooth flitted over to Bunnymund. "How will we know if we got anywhere without s-?"

"Fine! We have 'statistics' now! Happy Tooth!"

"I still don't want to do this, so no."

"Attitude puts you on naughty list too. See Sandy, now you have friend there!"

* * *

"You know North, if you own one of these things, you should use it."

The guardian of wonder sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fit Day was not going as hoped. He set the weighing scale down in the center of the room and stood back. It was a little black thing, most likely a gag gift from another spirit. Why was his weight so humorous to everyone? Stepping on it would tell your weight in little blinking numbers and so far, no one volunteered to see their heft in digits.

"Ladies first!" He shouted joyfully and swept Tooth forward with a grin. The jolly-ness returned at having some sort of small revenge on Toothiana.

"This isn't what I meant! We need tests for push-up or how much we can lift or how fast we are!" Tooth huffed, but settled herself down onto the scale, hopping uneasily on the solidness her feet were so unused to. She steadied herself after a moment and waited with her breath held. 103. Not bad. She fluttered back up, relieved to be off the ground. "You know we can't gain or lose weight right North?"

St. Nick looked up at, boggled. "Then what were fat jokes for?"

"Because you're pudgy!"

"I can not help it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whadda we weighin' ou'selves fer?" Bunny questioned. "And how do ya know we can' change ou' weight?"

"You wouldn't believe how many teeth are lost from bulimia each year!" Tooth cried, her feathers ruffling in distress. "So many girls - and even boys - are obsessed with their appearance, so I asked Manny about us." She flattened her feathers out with her hands in gentle pats. "And we should weigh ourselves for a basic starting place for becoming fit. You wouldn't ask someone who weighs 90 pounds to lift a 200 pound object right away! You use your weight to determine how much work you should begin with," she lectured easily. She would not let these boys hurt themselves.

"Fine, fine. Move," Bunny grumbled and stepped up to the scale, taking off his sling with his boomerangs and egg bombs, before hoping on it. 237.

North was next at 392 pounds after stripping of his boots, coat and belt. (He laughed and held his belly and shouted how it was a blessing from Manny.)

Sandy weighed in at 47 pounds and floated back for Jack's turn.

A light violet hue was painted on his pale cheeks as he tugged his blue hoodie above his head and off. He made eye contact with them all before stepping in front of them where the scale was and preparing himself for the gasps, which did not disappoint.

He knew North had seen his back, but the other three had only been told of it. Perhaps they had not been told in descriptive enough detail for the gasp of surprise from Tooth and groan from Bunnymund claimed that neither were prepared for the sight. Jack didn't turn around to see Sandy's expression; what he could hear was enough.

It seemed silly to the winter spirit that they all fussed over the scars on his back, but he had never seen what the backside of him looked like. There was no point in worrying over scars; the wounds were already healed from those times.

He placed one foot on the scale then the other and his weight rested solely on the machine. All was silent and Jack held his breath until the numbers flashed beneath him.

"73."

He could hear them shift and even flinch behind them and staring down at the seven and three, Jack noticed just how prominent his bones were. The skin visible on his lower legs was stretched tight over his bones and even caved in stomach churned at the sight of itself.

He stepped down from the scale and turned to retrieve his hoodie from Tooth, who held it up to her chest and face to partially cover her expression, which Jack was grateful for.

His protruding collar bone and jutting ribs, the razor sharp hips just above his pants that hid bone-y legs, his sunken in stomach and curved in sides. Jack knew he was not pretty to look at. His own nausea stemmed from his looks; 73 pounds of bone and skin would never appeal to him.

Jack reached for his hoodie and Tooth eagerly handed it over. He tried to ignore the look of near horror on her face. He slipped his arms through it and pulled it back over his head. He hadn't taken his hoodie off in nearly 30 years; he forgot how baggy and roomy the garment was. It swallowed him with the sleeves stretching much further than his arms could reach and covering the top half of his thighs. Jack bit his lip after he realized how silly he must have looked in such a thing.

"103, 237, 392, 47 and...73," Tooth mumbled softly, looking down at the ground she didn't touch through teary eyes. "I think we should start this officially tomorrow. Then we can actually decide on where we should each start," her voice trembled at the end.

"Yes, sounds good." North grinned, but his joy was half-hearted.

Jack hung his head; it wasn't his fault his stupid body ruined the good time they were having. He followed the rest of them out of the room and down the halls until they reached the main area of the workshop where Tooth whimpered out a goodbye before fluttering off to her palace.

"Ah, women and thei' sensitivities," Bunnymund shook his head and wrapped an arm around Jack. "So ya' a li'l smalla', we already knew tha'. I mean, i's kinda obvious with how easy it was to beat ya in racin' an' all."

Jack's ears perked up. "Is that a challenge Cottontail?"

Bunnymund smirked. "Notta challenge mate, just sayin' the'e's no shame in bein'..._weaker_."

The sentence had barely finished itself before a shard of ice came from a grinning boy and North and Sandy scampered off to the side; Bunny retrieved his boomerangs and twirled them in the most threatening manner that can be described with 'twirling'.

"We'll see who really needs that Fit Day!"

* * *

******RotG Fact: Author of _The Guardians of Childhood_, William Joyce, says the Earth was originally egg-shaped which was unstable for rotation and had the planet heading toward the sun, so Bunnymund used his 'digging ability' to round out the Earth and save us.**


	28. Fit Day

**Title: **Fit Day

**Rating: **K+

**Characters (besides Jack): **all of the guardians

**Genre:** General

**Summary: **Small didn't mean he had no muscle.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **747

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 615

* * *

Fit Day actually began the day after all the guardians weighed themselves and started off with everyone measuring their height. Bunnymund went first and stood at 6'1" (7'3" including his ears) and backed away for Sandy who's spiky hair was matted down to see that the top of his head rested against the 3'7" mark. Tooth was next and made a face at having to lower herself down to the ground and flinching at the unusual feeling of something beneath her feet.

"You do know we won't ever grow, right North?" Her feathers were gently moved aside to reveal her stature of 5'5".

"So what? Height is always measure with weight!" The guardian of wonder boomed. Sandy floated up to the top of the white hair and signaled down North's height with his fingers. 8'6"

Jack was last, as always, and stood against the vertical ruler as straight as he could. He stood taller than his weight should be able to accommodate for at an impressive 5'10".

"Now that we're done with that pointless act," the winter spirit said as he stepped away from the wall, "what fitness-like thing is first?"

North's eyes widened; he had forgotten Fit Day meant actual physical work.

Bunny saw the confusion on his friend's face, so he took over for the Russian. "Push-ups," the pooka announced with a grin.

* * *

Sandy stood in front of them all, a stopwatch above his head finished a minute, it's destined time. The other guardians rested (in North's and Tooth's case, collapsed) on the floor as Sandy drifted over to the white board, brought in by yetis at North's request, and picked up the marker to scribbled down results. Several columns, filling the entire board, listed names, weights, heights and future activities to be completed. Three of the categories were already filled in and Sandy wrote in the fourth, under 'Push-ups', for each of his friends. It was decided one of them would sit out each challenge to keep count of the others. North had wanted to excuse himself for the push-ups, but Bunnymund intervened.

"I think ya bettah sit out tha sit-ups mate. Ya stomach's gonna get in tha way fer 'em anyway."

Once the golden man finished writing down everyone's results, they were back on their feet to see what they accomplished.

Three columns away from Tooth's name was written 23 ("My wings weighed me down too much!"). North had done 25 ("To make it same as Christmas date!") while Bunnymund took the lead of 134.

Jack had taken second place, which was actually expected with Tooth's and North's strength, but his 53 push-ups were unexpected.

Sandy was the only one to muse about how surprising Jack's score was, but each guardian had had their own counter made out of sand before them and Sandy trusted his creations to be accurate. He almost felt bad for underestimating Jack; he thought Jack's score would be something the teen was clearly ashamed of, like his scrawniness, but Jack just seemed to give a pleasing look to his scores and held his chin just a little bit higher.

* * *

North had no problem excluding the sit-ups from his scores, he was far too winded from the push-ups to do anything for a while. So he sat back and fiddled with an actual stopwatch brought by the elves until it was set for a minute.

Bunnymund and Sandy were doing their tests first with Jack and Tooth hold their paws/feet down respectively (Jack had given up on using strength and just sat on Bunny's paws). It was mostly uneventful - excluding when Jack leaned over from Bunny and across Tooth and pushed Sandy back down when the golden man rested up on his knees for too long, shouting "keep going, you're not done little man!"

When the minute was up, Tooth announced that Sandy had done 36 (and that it would've only been 28 if not for Jack's 'tough love') and Jack declared Bunnymund completed 96, which North wrote down on the board.

They all switched places and North set the timer for another minute and when it buzzed in his hands, Tooth translated Sandy's finger motions into 29 sit ups and Bunny clapped Jack on the back and announced the winter spirit had done 58, even without any encouragement.

'_5__8_?' North pondered as he scribbled the number in the box connecting 'Jack Frost' and 'Sit-ups'. That didn't sound right, Jack was too little; he had his entire weight on Bunny's paws but the pooka's feet _still_ rose up with each sit-up! He was so..._muscleless_, scoring so high couldn't make sense. Surely the young spirit would have ran out of breath and strength long before 57! But Bunnymund had been watching carefully and North trusted the rabbit's count; North thought that perhaps he did not have enough faith in Jack and his the frown beneath his beard.

* * *

Bunnymund leaned back in the chair by the door and grinned at his huffing and puffing companions; each was on a treadmill aligned against the wall and was running as much as they could for ten minutes. It wasn't that he needed a break - as if push-ups and sit-ups were hard! - but they all knew he was the fastest on foot and needed no more practice with it.

Beads of sand dripped down Sandy's face in a look of perspiration and North's breathing could be heard down the hall. Tooth and Jack were doing fairly good at handling themselves (especially with all their complaining with Sandy joined in of how they "shouldn't have to do this!" with their ability to fly), but the winter spirit seemed to need a break out in the snow soon with a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

The ten minutes ended too slowly for the pooka as he gazed out the window and shivered at just the sight of all the white flakes, but he stood up and glanced at each machine before hopping back to the board to write it down (seeing as each of his co-workers were sorely out of breath and energy to create images) and mumbled each score under his breath.

"Sandy...one and an' a thi'd kilometah. Tooth...two kilometahs. North...ba'ely three quatah's a kilometah! Ahh, Jacky...three kilometahs? Really?"

The winter spirit peered up in exhaustion, his eyes not even holding anger at the pooka's disbelieving tone. Jack gave a weak nod and went back to resting on the treadmill like the others had done before, but now Tooth and Sandy stood up (with most of their weight on the wall) and North even managed to sit up some.

"Tooth! Take Frostbite outside fer a bit, cool him down!"

Tooth eagerly nodded and forced herself away from the wall and over to her kin and helped Jack off the bottom of the running machine and received help from Sandy when she couldn't manage Jack on her own. The winter spirit was dragged along with an arm over each shoulder of Sandy and Tooth and mumbled that he didn't need help. Bunny sighed; they didn't need a repeat of the Warren.

Once they were out of ear shot, North spoke from the ground. "Jack's scores," he paused to pant, "are impressive, no?"

"I s'pose," Bunnymund finished writing all the scores and turned to face the other guardian, "he shouldn't be able to do this well."

"There are...many things Jack...should not...be able to...do."

One ear dropped in a questioning manner and he hopped over to North to help the heavy man up. "Jack should not-"

"Catch ya breath fi'st mate."

North nodded and paused for a long while, too long to be healthy, but Bunny waited. "Jack should not be able to fight Pitch as well as he did with no experience. Jack should not be able to forget human life. Jack should not be able to even be happy with past. But he is."

"A mystery, eh?"

"Mystery indeed. There is still much to know about Jack to help him. We may never even know all of it within eternity."

Bunny could not voice his question of why North sounded so wise before sand images pranced through the door and came to a stop in front of the two. A sand-created Jack and Tooth rested against each other with 'Z's floating above their head and off to the side was a miniature replica of Sandy with a finger pressed to his lips. The guardians of memories and fun must've been more tired than the others thought.

"S'at mean we're continuin' tomorra?" Bunny was already hopping towards the door, itching to get out as the sand images faded away. With all the exercise, he had sat still for far too long.

The pooka didn't even turn around when he heard North answer. "Hmmm...no. No more Fit Day is necessary, agree?"

"Whatevah ya say Porky."

"That is last straw Aster! You have permanent residence on naughty list! I am No More Mr. Nice Guy for you, my friend!"

"I think No Mo' Mr. Nice Guy's would be on tha naughty list too, mate."

"Double naughty list! Just for you!"

* * *

**RotG Fact: Tooth's feather were designed to appear as a dress to make her seem like a princess.**


	29. Caroling

**Title: **Caroling

**Rating: **K

**Characters (besides Jack): **Tooth and North

**Genre: **Humor

**Summary: **North is crying, Tooth is comforting, and Jack is causing.

**Followers (as of this chapter): **774

**Favorites (as of this chapter): **630

**Somewhat of a 'sequel' to _We Are Young_.**

* * *

"Why Tooth? Why? These are my babies! Why must he do zis?"

"I don't know North, but everything will be alright. He has to stop sometime!"

"No! You do not know power of lungs of winter spirit! You do not understand!"

"He'll tire of this eventually! He _has_ to!"

North cried into her feathery shoulder and howled out more complaints as she did her best to console him with pats on the back and words of comfort. The door to North office was closed, as it had been for nearly an hour in a worthless attempt to drown out the noise, and for most of that hour, Santa had sat in his office crying to himself. It was not until Baby Tooth - also trying to find a safe haven for her ears - had phased through his door, came upon his shivering form and flew off to get Tooth that the guardian of wonder had someone to share his grief with.

"Why will he not stop? Why must he do zis _here_?" The Russian sobbed further into her shoulder and Tooth sighed in relaxation; North's increasing in volume sobs were drowning out the catastrophe on the other side of the door. "I love zese zings! And he is...he is...is _butchering_ them! How could he?"_  
_

Tooth did not attempt with comforts this time; as much as she loved the boy, even she couldn't deny to... _atrocity _that was Jack's voice.

She couldn't truly understand North's dilemma since she didn't hold the music as close to her heart as he did, but she still felt sorry for her companion as she translated the story from his sobs. The yetis had turned on one of the many CDs of the like North had and did not expect Jack to come by. Starting as soon as he saw North in the workshop and beginning with "Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane!" and slowly and _painfully_ making his way to the tragic tale of a grandmother on Christmas Eve, North crumbled a bit more with each destroying of his precious music for his time of year.

It wasn't until several songs and sobs later that Jack began singing a song that pulled at Tooth's heartstrings. "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth!"

The screeching of the most precious part of her job gave the impression of nails scraping against her ears, teeth and heart which sent Tooth bawling just as North was and together, their cries blocked out Jack's awful singing.

Hours later, the music and singing finally stopped and Tooth and North wipe their eyes and wait for the redness to fade until they come out to the yetis, all with ear plugs in so tight, they haven't realized that the ruckus had stopped, and the elves and Jack, sitting cross-legged on a counter top as elves eagerly brought him toys to replace the ones he had finished playing with.

North descended the stairs and Tooth fluttered above him, shaking off the rest of her jitters. She flew around the corner and planned to be out the door in moments, she just couldn't see Jack so soon after everything she had heard, but her ears picked up the sound of Jack's voice and instinctively, she flinched.

But to her relief, Jack hadn't begun singing once more.

But to her horror, it's something nearly as equally terrible.

"Hey North! For Christmas, can I get one of those awesome CDs? I almost forgot how much I love Christmas carols!"

* * *

**RotG Fact: North can speak to animals, but is especially fluent in the bug, hamster and leech languages.**


	30. Found One Snowy Evening

**Title:** Found One Snowy Evening

**Rating:** K+/T (basically, PG)

**Characters (besides Jack):** North

**Genre:** Family/Slight Angst/General

**Summary: **North could not believe the compassion and guilt Jack felt for such small creatures.

**Followers (as of this chapter):** 1002 (a thousand followers?!)

**Favorites (as of this chapter):** 851

* * *

Early December was made a beautiful, pure white with the snow he brought. Dancing off buildings and twirling on telephone poles, Jack hit every corner and crack of all the neighboring towns and filled in the cracks with ice and painted the windows with frost.

Children running about in the late evening chased his snow, growing heavier with his happiness with their laughter of "snow day!" and "don't even bother with homework tonight!"

Very few children outside Burgess knew of Jack's being and, although it made him upset, it allowed him to leap through the towns and embrace his snowflakes without hurry.

After his snow kept falling and falling and falling, Jack took rest on the corner of a building, breathing in the ice and the cold and the scent of _winter_. Everything was beautiful, flawless with the white covering up the imperfections of each city and Jack relaxed his the true residence of where he belongs in the middle of all his snow.

The guardian of fun listened to the carrying voices of excited children and of dismayed parents and even picking up on the thunderous sound of every snowflake finding its home somewhere (though that was something only the spirit of winter could hear).

But, above all the cheers and groans and welcomes of new inhabitants of the ground, Jack could hear something new.

A whimper.

A _lot_ of whimpers.

The sound of desperate, scared wail among all the usual noises of winter.

Jack followed the short distance of the whines to the alley directly below him. His feet made no audible sound as he landed and followed the high pitched yelps to a box just feet away from the sidewalk. He reached the the cardboard container and peered inside.

Four balls of fur and wide eyes shivered in their huddled group, crying out from the bottom of their box which, Jack felt awful about, was now covered in snow. The creatures, with little snowflakes on their snouts looked up at him with such hope that Jack flinched with how undeserving he was of the look of a savior.

It didn't matter if he stopped his oncoming storm as the air would remain too cold for them to survive. Jack tugged at his hair as a feeling of sick guilt engulfed his stomach; he could only make the weather colder, he could never make it warmer.

The winter spirit could not rip his hoodie off fast enough and bare his torso to the world and shake it to throw off the snow the built up on it. He picked up each bundle of fur and warmth and placed them onto his hoodie, thankfully much too big for him, but just big enough to fit all four animals.

Jack cradled the delicate package close to his chest and chewed his lip in worry and thought.

Where to now?

No animal shelters were open.

He couldn't trust the children's parents to allow an animal into their home - no matter how adorable they were.

That left...

The Warren would be warmest, but he had no way to contact Bunnymund without one of his stupid tunnels.

The Tooth Palace would be good, but the creatures needed immediate warmth, not just a place of adequate temperature.

So the only place left...

It would dangerous and no doubt stupid to take the shivering animals through the blizzards in the north pole, but he could manage it.

"Just hang tight little guys," he whispered. "I'll get you warm."

* * *

Early December was a busy time for Nicholas St. North and his yetis, they had a few measly weeks before the night they were destined for.

So when a pounding knock on his door echoed throughout the workshop, North grumbled all the way to the entrance that whoever decided to bother him better have a _very_ good reason._  
_

Staggering up to his full height with an annoyed expression, he threw open his door and stopped his speech before it he could begin when a shirtless winter spirit tumbled through the door.

"Jack?"

"Hi, North!" The teen shouted breathlessly as he flew down the hall, narrowly avoiding yetis and elves alike, ignoring each shout of bewilderment, zooming past each corner with no care for his safety.

North attempted to run after the winter spirit to make sure nothing was wrong with Jack (but then again, when wasn't something always wrong with Jack?), but after his first ten steps, he chose to simply walk.

Winded, he found Jack - by pursuing the fallen elves and grumpy yetis - in the main lounge room, still shirtless, sitting closer to the fire than the winter spirit should, and coddling and stroking his hoodie.

"Jack?" The winter spirit looked up from his shirt and over to the man in red with surprised eyes, as if he forgot it was North's home he intruded into. "What is problem? Why fly through halls so fast and scare elves like you did?"

The winter spirit's face flushed violet and he stood up, leaving his bundled up sweatshirt on the floor, and walked over to North with a hand awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. North could see the unhealthy glean of sweat on the boy's face "I...uh...I needed some place warm for them," he gestured to the sweatshirt.

"Them? Who is 'them'?" North stepped past Jack and over to the hoodie on the ground by the fire. As he got closer, he could see each small movements, little jerks, in the bundle.

He reached out and folded the top of the hoodie back to see four, light brown puppies with pointed ears and wet noses shivering in the makeshift bed Jack made for them.

"Jack," North's eyes studied the pups, "why do you have dogs?"

"I...I..." the younger spirit couldn't answer and the elder of the two looked up. Jack's face was no longer flustered or violet with embarrassment; instead, he kept his eyes down with an expression that just looked deeply _ashamed_.

"Jack, what is wrong?"

"I...created a storm," he whispered in guilt. "I heard them crying, they...they were so cold. I can't believe I never even thought about looking for strays. I would never hurt an animal on purpose, North!" He tried to convince Father Christmas who already believed him. "I would never let anything happen to them if I could help it." His voice broke and Jack put a hand to his face to hide his shame. "I...I'm sorry."

"Jack, there is nothing to be sorry for!" North reached out and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and lifted his chin with the other. "You saw problem and you sought solution. You could have left them out in the cold, but you did good thing and brought them somewhere warm."

"I just can't believe I almost hurt them. I _did_ hurt them. I can't believe I almost let them d-," Jack shook his head, willing the words away and brought his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Jack Frost," North said sternly and the boy looked up with sad eyes that tugged at the guardian of wonder's heart. "You are good boy - good _guardian_. You protected them and they will be safe now because of you. Cold weather happens without you. It is good thing you found them before it was too late. They would have not lasted winter if you had not found them."

The sad eyes melted away into disbelief, then understanding, then gratitude and North inwardly sighed happily that Jack no longer looked..._broken_.

"I will have yetis bring food for them, they can stay as long as you need them to."

"Can I stay here with them?" Eyes wide with pleading. "Please? I have to make sure they're okay."

"Of course, silly boy! You must stay further away from fire though."

The wide eyes filled with such warmth from gratitude made the fire behind the boy seem cold in comparison.

* * *

Early December was a relaxing time for North as he sat down later that evening and watched the four snoozing puppies, now each covered with blankets, kick each other in their sleep with Jack nearby curling protectively around them in his own slumber.

* * *

**RotG Fact: The only words Sandy has ever said were to a fearling: "You are not real. You are not true. You are nothing."**

**New poll on my page.**


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